The Gundam Children
by Sekaina
Summary: When the Gundams were destroyed the doctors decided to continue the legacy of the Gundams and create children with aspects of the Gundams and their pilots. The problem is, a sinister organization seeks to destroy them and they must fight to survive.
1. Finding Heero

"Target sighted," A young woman said into the communicator at her shirt collar.  
  
"You sure you don't want help?" A male voice replied.  
  
"I'm sure. I'll contact you later with news."  
  
"Jerome is outside the theater if you need help."  
  
"Which I don't. Over and out." The male started to protest but the girl turned off the communicator.  
  
Her target was the old Gundam pilot, Heero Yuy and his wife Relena Peacecraft, the vice foreign minister. She planned to ask Heero for his help.  
  
She waited until they had chosen their seats and then walked over and sat next to Heero. He glanced at her once and she smiled at him.  
  
"Do I know you?" He ventured quietly.  
  
"No, but I know you and I need your help."  
  
"What could you say that would make me want to help you."  
  
"The word 'Gundam' I think is sufficient." Heero stiffened at the word. He turned away from her. She smiled and turned back to watch the trailers and advertisements. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a suspicious man standing in the right corner with a cell phone. She fixed her ears on the man and his phone. She could barely make out what was being said.  
  
"Can you see the targets?" A voice said on the phone.  
  
"Yea, I see Heero Yuy, Relena Peacecraft, and even the girl."  
  
"Before they get a chance to talk capture one of them."  
  
"They've already exchanged a few words."  
  
"WHAT?! Capture one of them! Now! We cannot allow the pilots to interfere!"  
  
"Roger that." The man hung up and stuck the cell phone in his coat pocket. Out of the opposite coat pocket he withdrew a gun. When he cocked it a few people started screaming. Heero looked over at the man and stiffened again at the sight of the gun.  
  
"Heero, Relena, get up slowly and get out of here." The girl whispered.  
  
"What's going on?" Relena asked.  
  
"I'd planned on asking Heero for help tonight but it seems my enemy found us. If you value your life, go, quickly!" Heero and Relena got up at that was when the man sighted them.  
  
"HEY! STOP OR I'LL SHOOT!"  
  
"RUN!!!!!" The girl cried. People started screaming and dived to get out of the way of the firearm. The girl shoved Heero and Relena down the walkway. The man fired at them many times but because of the darkness he missed. The girl pulled a gun out of her pants and returned fire. She hit the man in the shoulder and he fell down. The three fugitives ran out of the dark theater into the light and started running toward the exit.  
  
Before they could reach the exit people appeared behind and in front of them.  
  
"In here!" a brown-haired man shouted, diving into the girls bathroom. The girl pushed Heero and he in turn pushed Relena. The mysterious woman went in last, shooting at the men to distract them.  
  
As soon as the girl got in she turned her gun toward her and pushed a button that made the gun turn into a blowtorch. It welded the door to the frame together.  
  
"There" she said, "that should hold them off for a few minutes.  
  
"What is going on?" Relena asked again.  
  
"We'll have to explain later," the man said. "By the way I'm Jerome."  
  
"What are we going to do Jerome? We can't go out the same way we came in."  
  
"Don't worry, Trio. You still got those explosives?"  
  
"Of course. I never leave the house without them."  
  
"Good. Set a few off and blast through the wall. A van is waiting outside for us."  
  
Trio sighed. " I guess that's what I get for trying to save myself."  
  
"We're always behind you, always."  
  
"Yea, yea." Trio pulled out some bombs that looked like kiddy blocks that you could stick together. There were four.  
  
Heero's eyes went wide. "Trio, or whoever you are, if you use that many bombs it'll kill all of us."  
  
Trio glared at the ex-pilot. "I know that. I've studied explosives longer than you have." Trio snapped off two of the explosives and stuck them back in her pocket. She walked over to the wall and stuck on the bomb. She pushed the "3" button for three seconds and turned around.  
  
"Get in the back corner." She commanded the pilot and minister. She turned around and yelled, "get ready!" She pushed the red button and ran. It seemed like the second she reached the back corner where Heero huddled defensively over Relena that the wall exploded and Trio was flung onto Jerome, who managed to catch her before she hit her head on the wall.  
  
"You okay?" Jerome asked, pushing Trio up.  
  
"Yea," Trio replied, pushing herself up onto her feet. "Let's go." She ran to the hole without looking back. Once she crawled out the hole, however, she turned around to help the other three escape the theater bathroom.  
  
Jerome reached into his pocket and pulled out a walkie-talkie. "We're out, south side." A van came veering around the corner of the theater and stopped in front of the group.  
  
"Get in!" A voice yelled from inside as the door opened. The four managed to climb inside just as a hail of gunfire cut down.  
  
Heero was helping Relena get seated when he heard a cry from behind him. He turned around to see Trio holding her stomach while blood poured from the wound. Trio collapsed inside the door and Jerome pulled her in and slammed the door shut. He pulled her onto the back seat and began ministering to her wounds.  
  
"You're lucky Heero."  
  
"Why?" He asked.  
  
"If Trio had not have been standing there that last bullet would have hit Relena right in the heart." Heero's normal glared paled as he turned away from Jerome who was tenderly pushing on Trio to get the blood to stop.  
  
"Is she okay?" The driver asked.  
  
"She'll been fine as soon as I can get the wound closed."  
  
"We should be at the mansion in an hour."  
  
"She can survive that long. I hope." Jerome whispered. 


	2. Telling the Tale

Author's note: I don't own GW though I wish I had Duo. I accidentally saved both chapters as one.hehe.. I fixed it so it doesn't repeat.sorry if it confused anyone.  
  
"Jerome." Trio whispered about half an hour into the drive.  
  
"What is it?" Jerome asked without even looking at her.  
  
"What if.what if they try to get the others?"  
  
"What others?" Heero asked in his usual monotone.  
  
"The other pilots. There are more like me and they might go to the other pilots for help. What if the 'X' tries to capture them?"  
  
"What do you mean more like you?" Trio hesitated and showed Heero the wound. It had been completely resealed; like a scratch on a car it was barely evident she'd been hit at all. Heero and Relena both gasped.  
  
"What the heck happened?" Relena whispered.  
  
"That's what I've been up to for the past ten minutes. She's not your typical 16-year-old girl. Her name is.OW!" Jerome cried out as Trio hit him with a pillow.  
  
"I can introduce myself thank you."  
  
"But are you ready to admit aloud what you are." Jerome retorted seriously.  
  
"I don't know," Trio said hesitantly. She looked at Heero. "But there's no time to find out like the present. My name is Trio Hawk. As Jerome already told you I'm not your ordinary 16-year-old girl." Trio lowered her head Her lower lip quivered. "For some strange reason after the Gundams were destroyed someone couldn't bear the thought of the Gundams dying and created children with aspects of the Gundam, its' pilot, and the pilot's girlfriend or other close friend."  
  
"So does that mean that the child that's like Heero has part of me?"  
  
"Yes. This experiment basically made a complete child."  
  
"How many are there? I remember hearing about some human clone experiment but.. Was it that?"  
  
"Correct again. There were originally 33 but only the most ironic number survived. Take a guess." Heero just stared at Trio, refusing to even acknowledge she'd stopped talking. When Relena spoke, however, Heero looked at her.  
  
"Five. Five survived." Trio nodded.  
  
"But how? There were only five Gundams to begin with," Heero argued.  
  
"Not true. They used ALL Gundams ever created. The Gundam child of Domon Kasshu's Gundam lasted the longest. But the 'X' got him too.Only the Gundams belonging to the last five Gundam pilots have survived even this far."  
  
"She's right, Heero," Jerome added. "You should contact the other pilots and give them the coordinates to the mansion where I live so they'll be safe for now."  
  
"No, we don't need to get the others involved."  
  
"Yes you do!" Trio shouted. "If the 'X' gets hold of them they'll kill them!"  
  
"But this experiment has nothing to do with them. Why would they kill them?"  
  
"Because they were a contributing factor. They don't care if they were the experiment or the accomplice they'll destroy them anyway." Heero glared menacingly at Trio and finally pulled out a small communicator separated into four small windows. He pushed four buttons at the bottom and waited until all four screens livened up with the other pilots.  
  
"Heya, Heero, what's up?" Duo asked.  
  
"Silence." Wufei called up.  
  
"What is it, Heero?" Quatre asked.  
  
"Yea, what's going on?" Trowa added.  
  
"We've got a problem. There's some guys who are trying to destroy some kids."  
  
"What does that have to do with us?" Wufei sneered.  
  
"These kids are the result of a human clone experiment that happened many years ago. The kids aren't ordinary."  
  
"Kids that aren't ordinary? Sounds like us." Wufei added once again. "But again, what does this have to do with me?"  
  
"The child pertaining to you is half you and half Sally, and," Heero added, "Half Shenlong Nataku."  
  
"What??! How is that possible?"  
  
"I don't know, but the child that found me is a Duo look-alike."  
  
"Let me see!!!" Duo shouted.  
  
"Here," Heero said, thrusting the communicator into Trio's hand. Trio looked down upon the face of her "father" and had to make the mental note to close her mouth.  
  
Duo was quiet for a second. "You're right, she does look like me."  
  
"She's even got your braid, Duo." Trowa commented.  
  
"Look," Jerome said, taking the communicator away from the stunned girl, "I need all four of you to get your closest girl friend, maybe your wife, fiancée or maybe sibling as the case may be and get them to the following coordinates." Jerome turned the communicator upside down and pushed '180 degrees S 179 degrees W'. "Understand? Go NOW! There's no time to waste. How long do you guys think it'll take to get you there?"  
  
"Forty-five minutes, for all of us." Quatre said.  
  
"Why for all of you?"  
  
"We're at Quatre's mansion for a little tournament of the musicians."  
  
"Who's winning?" Trio said, peeking on the screen.  
  
"Let's just say it's not Duo," Wufei chided.  
  
"Hey! That's not very nice."  
  
"When has Wufei ever been nice?" Trio asked. She handed the communicator back to Heero with a deathly pale look on her face. "Never tick off China Men."  
  
"Meet at the coordinates immediately. Over."  
  
"Roger that." All four said at once. And with one click all the screens went blank.  
  
"Now what do we do?"  
  
"We wait," Jerome stated. 


	3. Arrival at the mansion

It took them the full hour to finally reach the mansion. Trio had fallen asleep again in the back seat. Relena had laid down on Heero's lap and fell asleep as well. Only the three males in the car were awake. Jerome reached around the seat and poked Trio.  
  
"We're here sleepy head. Get up." Trio opened her eyes and sat up. She grimaced a little bit but got up. Jerome opened the door and Trio followed him out, leaving Heero and Relena alone for a moment in the van.  
  
"Relena," Heero whispered. It was the same sound he'd made so many times when he couldn't admit he loved her. She stirred and looked up at him, love resonating in her eyes.  
  
"What is it, Heero?"  
  
"We're here."  
  
"Heero." Now fear showed in her eyes, but the love never left.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"I'm scared. This fusion between a human and a Gundam, how could someone do that?"  
  
"I don't know. I'm a little unsure myself. I can't figure out what other secret the child is hiding."  
  
"Trio? You think she's hiding something?"  
  
"Not Trio herself, but her body. It's hiding something. On the way here I saw her back twitch a number of times."  
  
"Twitch Heero? That's hardly a cause for concern."  
  
"Something about how it twitched concerns me. Like something's trying to get out but hasn't found an opening."  
  
"Are you two coming? The door won't stay open forever!"  
  
"Coming, Jerome!" Relena unbuckled her seatbelt. She realized she didn't remember putting it on. Heero must have. He helped her step out of the van and they walked toward the mansion proper. The mansion all in all was a white color with big French doors. Inside was a red Persian rug on the mahogany floors. The walls retained the white color but were barely visible with all the pictures hanging on the walls. Some pictures were painted while others were oversized portraits. Relena counted five where Trio in the picture.  
  
When Relena and Heero finally caught up with Trio and Jerome they had stopped in a round ballroom. Nothing made this room look different from the other rooms but Relena just knew it was a ballroom. It has a softer floor and on the sidelines of the room were benches. Heero sat down on the bench closest to the door. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes. He appeared to be getting a feel for the room. Jerome sat down on the bench next to Heero and Relena.  
  
Trio sat down on the bench farthest from door they had entered from. She lay down on the bench with her arms crossed like Heero but she left her eyes open.  
  
"Are you hungry?" She asked. Relena started and realized she'd been staring at the girl.  
  
"No, thank you. I'm fine." Trio shrugged.  
  
"Jerome?" Trio asked.  
  
"What?" Was her reply.  
  
"Did you contact the others?"  
  
"Others?"  
  
"The other children! Who else would I be talking about?"  
  
"Don't be so grouchy. Of course I contacted them."  
  
"When?"  
  
"When you fell asleep again."  
  
"I did?"  
  
"Stupid child," Jerome muttered under his breath so quietly that Heero barely heard it.  
  
"I heard that!" Trio yelled from across the room.  
  
"How could you have heard that?" Heero asked. "He's on the opposite side of the room from you and on the same side as me and I barely heard him."  
  
"I dunno. I just know I heard him. Now be quiet and let me sleep." Heero glared and jumped up. He ran over Trio and made a grab for her throat. Relena cried out. Trio's gaze darted over to Heero and she smiled as his hand came down.  
  
Before anyone could react Trio had dodged out of the way and had flipped Heero around and pushed him down. His face was within an inch of the floor. Trio had her knee in the middle of his back. Heero's face showed he was surprised as everyone else. Trio smirked and let go of his arms. Heero coughed a little and turned to regard the girl. She reached down to help him up. He grabbed her hand and pulled her down, catching her off guard.  
  
Trio's face was contorted in annoyance but before Heero could pin her down Trio had once again somehow managed to plant his face within an inch of the floor. This time when she released him she was not smiling but she offered her hand once again. Heero accepted her help this time without trying to pin her.  
  
"That was incredible." Heero managed to stutter.  
  
"One of the benefits of being an android." Trio replied, shrugging.  
  
"You're far from an android." Jerome injected.  
  
"Well then what am I?"  
  
"Alloid. A G-Alloid."  
  
"And what the heck is that?" Before Jerome could answer the bell rang. Its cry resonated through the whole mansion. The sound of it bouncing off the walls reminded Trio of bells. Crystalline bells. It was the one sound she ever looked forward to.  
  
"Andrio, answer the door." Jerome snapped at the servant standing near the door. Trio lay back down on the bench.  
  
"Yes sir." Andrio disappeared and everyone waited in anticipation to see who had arrived. Heero went and sat down next to Relena again and crossed his arms, staring at the door.  
  
A couple seconds later the Portuguese servant reappeared with Duo in tow.  
  
"Duo Maxwell and Lady Hilde sir." Andrio disappeared leaving the awed pilots in the ballroom.  
  
"Where are the others?" Jerome asked.  
  
"They're coming. They had to find their girls and then some were in the baths so it'll be a minute. This mansion is huge!"  
  
"Duo stop gaping." Hilde reprimanded. Hilde nudged Duo when she caught sight of Trio lying on the bench.  
  
"Trio, don't you think it'd be nice if you looked at your 'father'?" 


	4. The Transformation

Author's note: Of course I don't own GW but I can pretend to own Duo right? Pretend being the operative word. Thanks for reviewing! If you really like my reading read Birth of Chaos in the original fantasy section. ENJOY!!!!  
  
Trio's eyes opened. She shook a little in her nervousness. Here was the opportunity she'd been waiting for for so long. She was finally going to meet the man that was partly responsible for her existence. The man who had piloted the Deathscythe Gundam, its' updated version the Deathscythe Hell and the final version Deathscythe Hell Custom. She wasn't sure if she even WANTED to open her eyes but a part of her forced them open.  
  
"So, you're Duo Maxwell." Trio stated still staring at the ceiling.  
  
"Trio, show the man some respect and look at him at least!" Jerome screamed at her.  
  
"What's the rush? Can't a girl be a little scared?!" Trio shoved off the bench and waited until she was standing before she turned to regard Duo full on.  
  
They stared at each other taking in their appearance for a second. Duo couldn't believe how much this girl looked like him. Trio gaped at a male version of herself. In her mind she heard a click and then everything got louder, slower, and brighter. She fell to her knees. Duo could have sworn her eyes went bright green before she dropped but he couldn't be sure.  
  
"Master." Trio, said in an eerie voice. Duo gaped at her for a second before he shook his head.  
  
"What's wrong with you kid? Why." Duo stopped when he saw Trio violently shaking.  
  
"Hey," he said, taking a step toward her, "are you okay?" Trio glanced up once and her eyes really WERE bright green. She forced her head to the ground and everyone could see that something under her shirt was moving. It strained against the clothes and Trio moved side to side to try and help. She cried out once but it wasn't out of pain. It was out of terror. This was like nothing she had ever done before.maybe it had NEVER been done before. Trio slashed from side to side and her "transformation" seemed to take an eternity.  
  
Finally the clothes could not stand the strain and the ripped with a resonating RRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPP that echoed off the walls of the ballroom. A hot blast of wind and piercing white light made everyone cover their eyes.  
  
"What's going on!?" Duo yelled still covering his eyes.  
  
"I don't know!" Hilde replied. She tried to glance at Duo but the light pierced even her side vision.  
  
Seconds later the wind and light died down and they looked back up at Trio. It took all of Duo's strength to stay conscious when he looked at the girl again. On her back were the most beautiful, ebony, silky bat wings of human proportion Duo could ever imagine. They were flapping gently to get rid of the traces of blood, sweat and water covering them and hindering their flying movement. Trio herself seemed to be limp and only kept up by the constant flapping of her wings. Trio's eyes were closed and her fingers slack.  
  
Her wings flapped consistently without help for two more minutes until apparently they were "satisfied" that they were dry enough. When they stopped Trio slid to the floor. The wings flapped a little until she settled down completely to the floor. No one moved for what seemed like a minute until they were sure she wouldn't move again involuntarily.  
  
"Trio!" Jerome called out, racing first to her side. He could only get as close as her head because of her wings. He dropped to his knees and leaned down to check her pulse. He gasped and shuffled backwards.  
  
"What's wrong?" Heero asked.  
  
"She hasn't got a pulse.but she's breathing!"  
  
"Duo, go see what's up." Heero commanded the pilot.  
  
"Wh..what? Why me?"  
  
"Because I said so and I think it might do her some good."  
  
"Heero," Relena butted in, "why would Duo do any good?"  
  
"He's the one she reacted to. Didn't you see her eyes?"  
  
"Yes, but I thought that was a trick of the light."  
  
"SOMETHING about Duo made her react like she did. I told you she hide some secret. Now help her, Duo." Duo gulped and walked over to her. He sat down above her head and reached out to touch her. Before he touched her he saw her eyes open. He jerked back as Trio sat up.  
  
"What.what happened?" Trio asked shaking her head.  
  
"You.you." Duo stuttered. He tried multiple times to explain to the girl that she had bat wings but finally he pointed behind her. Trio turned her head and gasped. Duo sighed. She wasn't going to scream.  
  
But his prayer was premature and Trio let out a blood-curdling scream. She reached behind her and tried to pull at the wings but that only caused tears to appear in her eyes.  
  
After one long minute Trio just broke down crying. Duo had scooted back to Hilde and Jerome had placed himself at the end of the bench. Trio just cried and swore at the unknown people who caused her so much grief.  
  
"Damn! This isn't FAIR. Why did they have to do this WHY??? Damn it!!!" Finally regaining her composure Trio wiped her eyes and raised her head high. Everyone waited for her to speak but she couldn't bring herself to speak.  
  
"You okay?" Hilde finally managed to ask.  
  
"Fine." Trio snapped. "I." the doorbell rang again before she could finish.  
  
"Andrio." Jerome said slowly.  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"What are we going to do?" Trio cried out. "I can't let people SEE me like this!"  
  
"You don't really have an option, Trio. They'll just have to be shocked." For the remaining minute Trio just mumbled to herself how the 'X' was going to be able to find her easy now. How she wouldn't be able to escape now.  
  
Finally Andrio returned with a little blond boy in tow.  
  
"Alexander Sand to see you sir." Andrio moved from in front of the boy and left a flabbergasted child looking around at all the strange people gathered. When his green gaze settled on Trio he shook but couldn't find the nerve to shift his gaze.  
  
"So you're Quatre's Gundam child?" Alex jumped at the sound of Heero's voice. He nodded.  
  
"Can you speak, boy?" Jerome asked in a loud, but not quite shouting voice. His voice echoed against the walls and made it seem almost crushing to Alex.  
  
"I can s..speak but..but."  
  
Jerome smirked. "You scared boy? The mansion too big for you?"  
  
"It's not the mansion, Sir. It's..it's.." Finally unable to voice his fear, he just pointed at Trio.  
  
"Well? Spit it out!" Trio shouted. Alex jumped and forced a calm face on.  
  
"What the heck happened to you? You've.you've got WINGS! Who are you!?"  
  
"I'm the same thing you are Alexander Sand. I'm a G-Alloid."  
  
"I asked WHO are you."  
  
"Trio Hawk. Nice to meet you Alex."  
  
"Is the same thing going to happen to me?" Alex asked turning to Heero. "Heero Yuy?" 


	5. When allies Fight

Author note: You're evil Shar! Be nice to Alex! Thanks to all you people who've read my story! *Bows to all except Shar and bonks her on the head* That's what you get! Alex is shocked is all! If this bonk doesn't hurt the one I'll put on your head on Thursday during Japanese will! Say you're sorry! *laughs nervously* Anyway, enjoy!  
  
"We don't know.," Heero added.  
  
"I hope not!" Duo interrupted.  
  
"Why?" Alex asked.  
  
"I can't take much more wind and light. Besides she scared the crap out of us."  
  
"What are YOU so worried about, Duo? WE'RE the ones who have to actually go through that."  
  
"So you believe it will happen to all five of you?" Relena asked.  
  
"Well, it's like Trio said," Alex said, walking over to a bench on the west wall and sitting down before continuing. "All five of us are G-Alloids and if it happened to Trio it will more than likely happen to the rest of us."  
  
"Are you scared kid?" Jerome asked.  
  
"Of you, maybe, of the wings, not really."  
  
"Why you little!" Jerome took a step toward Alex but stopped and smiled. "You're not worth my time kid."  
  
"I'm usually quite pacifistic but.If you could catch me it might actually prove to be worth your time."  
  
"Why's that kid?"  
  
"You'd have to get faster." Alex retorted with a smirk. "I may SEEM like a stupid, weak little kid but it's been proven time and time again that kids are not to be underestimated. Remember who started THAT legacy?" Jerome just glared. "The Gundam pilots themselves."  
  
"You seem to think you're really strong kid."  
  
"Not strong, just fast."  
  
"Well try this on for size!" Jerome ran at Alex and went to swing his arm but just before he made contact Alex was able to push himself off the floor and Jerome's hand hit the hard wooden bench.  
  
"Ouch!" Jerome muttered, shaking his hand. But the fight wasn't over yet, for Alex had yet to land. Just as Jerome shook his hand awake, and had turned around, Alex landed on his back and slammed both of them to the ground.  
  
"Why you son of a." Jerome cursed.  
  
"Hmm," Alex said with a satisfied smirk. "Remember now? We're not only like the Gundam, but also like the PILOTS and the pilots were all excellent athletes." Trio started to walk over to the two men because she knew the warning signs of Jerome's temper.  
  
"Get off you little Arabic son of a." Alex jumped off as Trio reached Alex's side and slapped Jerome across the cheek.  
  
"I think it's about time you learned to control that tongue of yours. Don't you know it's not nice to swear at kids in front of women?"  
  
"You're part machine and I swear in front of my car all the time." Jerome's lip was a little bloody and he wiped the traces away. Trio hit him again and caused more blood to appear. Duo jumped up.  
  
"Trio! That's enough!" Duo called in a pleading tone. Trio ignored him and hit Jerome again.  
  
"Trio! STOP!" Duo commanded. Trio suddenly went slack and turned around to face him.  
  
"What'd ya do THAT for?" She asked.  
  
"You were beating Jerome senseless."  
  
"Trust me," Trio spat before walking over to her bench. "He's far from senseless."  
  
"But he is unconscious," Alex added. Trio turned around and saw Jerome WAS unconscious. She took a step toward him but then he moved and opened his eyes.  
  
"Jerome?" Trio ventured.  
  
"Damn girl, you got some sucker punch." Jerome spit out a tooth. Trio gawked.  
  
Before she could apologize the doorbell rang; again sending it's chorus echoing through the room.  
  
"I'll get it sir," Andrio said before Jerome could yell at him.  
  
This time it was the acrobat Trowa Barton and his sister Catherine. Trowa took one look around before turning to fully acknowledge Trio. His gaze, however, did not linger and temporarily it settled on Alex. Trowa frowned at the uncanny resemblance between Alex and his best friend Quatre.  
  
"So what was your excuse for being late?" Trio ventured.  
  
"I was feeding the lion." Catherine snapped irritably.  
  
"Calm down, I didn't mean any harm." Trio said, putting her hands up in a surrendering position. As if she didn't notice before she raised an eyebrow and put her hands down. "Lion? You brought the lion?"  
  
"We couldn't leave him." Catherine was interrupted by the doorbell and Trowa (who had yet to say a word yet) motioned for them to move out of the doorway. Trio stepped back to the middle of the ballroom and unceremoniously sat down with her black wings folded down as best they could. She crossed her arms and closed her eyes.  
  
Before the mystery people reached them they could hear a voice snake it's way through the hallway.  
  
"Hurry up woman! Stop admiring the flowers!"  
  
"They're not flowers."  
  
"All the same, hurry up!"  
  
"You're such a grouch Wufei. Just relax. We'll get there when we get there."  
  
Wufei growled at stomped into the ballroom. He quickly assessed the people in the room but when he finally noticed Trio he just raised an eyebrow and walked over to stand before Heero.  
  
"So we meet again."  
  
"Guess so." Heero replied.  
  
"What's with the wings on that girl over there?"  
  
"Ask her."  
  
"All right woman." Wufei turned to face Trio. "What's up with the wings?"  
  
"You'll have to see later now won't you?"  
  
"Didn't you learn your lesson before, woman? Oh wait, you're just a little girl?"  
  
"I'll ignore that comment. And a glare is HARDLY something to threaten me with."  
  
"If you weren't a girl I'd teach you a lesson," Wufei muttered going to sit on one of the dozen benches. Sally finally wandering in and followed Wufei to the bench.  
  
"She may be a woman but she's no one to tangle with." Jerome finally spoke.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Look at his lip," Trowa commented. This was the first sentence he'd spoke. Wufei looked at Jerome's face and was mildly surprised to see the swollen lip and black eye.  
  
"A woman did that? To you?"  
  
"This woman," Trio said standing up and flexing her wings, "did that."  
  
"Just to let you know," Jerome butted in, "there's a child that will soon arrive that will very closely resemble you. As I said before, it will be part of you, the lady there, and your Nataku Gundam."  
  
"It'd better not be a woman." Was Wufei's only reply.  
  
The doorbell rang once again and everyone clearly saw Sally jump at the loud song the bells sang. Trio could hear the steps of Andrio's feet rush to the door. He had not entered the room since Trio had sprouted wings but stood at the door as if he was now afraid of the girl.  
  
Once again, before the mysterious party reached them they heard a voice sneak through the door.  
  
"INJUSTICE!" Wufei paled. The voice was that of a young girl saying Wufei's signature phrase. 


	6. Two in Succession

Author's Note: Thanks to all who read and review! I don't own GW. but I can dream right?  
  
"Oh no.." Wufei said. Trio grimaced but couldn't help but laugh. Wufei gave her another deadly glare but Trio shrugged.  
  
As she walked in the door Wufei stood up. His face was a light shade of red.  
  
"Who are you, woman!?"  
  
"I'm Shinna Ling. Let me guess, you're Wufei." Shinna added with a smirk.  
  
"This is got to be a mistake," Wufei sputtered. He turned to Jerome. "Tell we weakling that this is a mistake."  
  
"I should say it's a mistake just for that comment, but no. It's not a mistake. The ONE gender you almost completely despise is the gender of your G-Alloid." Wufei shook in his rage and started to walk to the door.  
  
He only made it to the middle of the floor where Trio sat before Trio's wings sprang up and knocked Wufei down.  
  
"Hold it pal. You're not going anywhere. You're staying to face the music."  
  
As if almost on cue, Shinna bent on one knee in front of the staggering Wufei and muttered, "Master." Her eyes had taken on that faint, but eerie green glowing light. Wufei stumbled backwards and Trio scrambled out of the way. She, however, did not make it far enough to escape the fierce wind. It attempted to flatten her against the wall but her wings had enough push to keep her a foot or so from the wall.  
  
Catherine and Sally screamed and held onto the benches for dear life. The wind continued for a couple more seconds before the searing light joined it. When the light hit the unaware women they let go of the benches and was knocked with deadly force against the wall behind them.  
  
"SAALLLYYYY!!!!" Wufei cried out. But he knew he couldn't let go; otherwise he would meet the same fate.  
  
"CATHERIINNNNNEEEEE!!!" Trowa called out likewise. Catherine struck the wall with more ferocity than Sally and Trowa heard a sickening thud. He let go of the bench he was holding on to and (being an acrobat) caught himself against the wall. He leaned down and picked up his sister, cradling his sister against the horrible wind and light.  
  
Finally, the wind and light came to a grinding halt. When everyone looked up Shinna was bathed in green, scaly wings. While Trio's wings mimicked a bat, Shinna's mimicked a serpent. Shinna, like Trio, at that stage was unconscious with her wings flapping to keep her airborne.  
  
Her drying off process however, did not take as long and moments later she started to fall to the floor. Trio, who was already airborne, raced toward Shinna and caught her from behind. Trio had to push Shinna's wings aside to see where she was sitting her friend down. Once Shinna was comfortingly on the ground Trio stood up.  
  
"Catherine, Sally, you guys okay?"  
  
"Just a little shook up is all."  
  
"Catherine?"  
  
"She's got a goose egg on her head, and she got knocked out but there's no permanent injuries." Trowa stated.  
  
"What the HELL was that?!" Wufei finally muttered.  
  
"A little transformation that occurs when a pilot finally meets his G- Alloid face to face. The same thing happened to Trio when she saw Duo." Hilde replied.  
  
Shinna was startled awake when the doorbell rang again through the nearly empty chamber. Trio walked around to face Shinna and helped her up. She swayed for a second but remembered her pride and jerked her arm away from Trio to stand on her own.  
  
"Get ready for another transformation." Trio stated. At the moment Trio was the undisputed leader but everyone had their doubts it would last. They all eagerly waited for the new person to enter, hoping it was Heero's G-Alloid. They all figured it would be Heero's G-Alloid who would lead the rest.  
  
"Master Quatre, Lady Dorothy, and Mr. Rasid Karuma to see you sir." Andrio introduced before promptly closing the door as soon as they had entered the room.  
  
"That man was so RUDE." Dorothy had to declare.  
  
"He has good reason to close the door so quickly," Duo pointed out.  
  
"Why's that?" She asked.  
  
"Look," Heero said. Dorothy turned in the direction Heero indicated. Alex was on his knees and his hands on the floor.  
  
"All I see is a beautiful young boy showing proper respect to Quatre," she stated airily.  
  
"Look again." Quatre whispered. Wind and light began to whirl around the boy. It did not come out nowhere, but it seemed to generate itself within the immediate area of Alex. It rose up like a beam. The wind swept out toward the shocked people and did not seem to flatten them against the wall. It seemed, however, to push them gently against the wall. As soon as everyone was safely touching the wall, then it let out its full force and flattened those who were trying to step away from the wall again. The light remained up like a beacon.  
  
When the light finally died down enough they could see Alex, they were surprised to see him barely conscious. His wings were a shaggy tan color and flapped with such ferocity that even though it should have calmed down it showed no sign of slowing.  
  
Trio lifted her eyes and watched as Alex's wings flapped continuously.  
  
"Trio!" Duo shouted.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Why hasn't it stopped?"  
  
"Isn't it obvious? His wings are fur and are taking longer than necessary to dry!"  
  
"Can't you help?" Trio frowned. She looked over the Shinna.  
  
"Yes we can. SHINNA!" Shinna looked over at Trio. "We have to help! START FLAPPING!"  
  
"Why should we help him?"  
  
"Do you want this infernal wind to stop? His wings are still wet. He needs help!" Shinna rolled her eyes.  
  
"All right," she consented. Both girls started flapping.  
  
"Do you mind?" Wufei shouted. "You're not helping!"  
  
"We got to get airborne before we can get close enough. And you'll just have to deal with the extra wind for a minute!" Trio and Shinna pushed upward and flew at Alex. They had to push a great deal to get close but when they did they reversed the direction Alex's wind was blowing and pushed it inward.  
  
Sweating and exhausted Trio and Shinna pushed the wind in. Finally, after a five minute long, hard struggle, the wind stopped. It just quit and Alex, still conscious, flew a couple feet backwards. The two girls stopped when they felt the wind quit and unceremoniously dropped to the floor. Alex blinked a few times before he too dropped to the floor. His eyes drooped and he swayed. Seconds later, he fainted, face on the floor.  
  
"Alex!" Quatre ran for the boy and when he reached him he turned him over.  
  
"Is he okay?" Dorothy asked, still a little shaken.  
  
"He just needs sleep." Quatre replied.  
  
"How many times do we have to go through this?" Quatre asked Trio.  
  
"Total? Five. Left? Two."  
  
"Three down, two to go." Shinna added. 


	7. The Final Countdown

Author's note: Say Trey Gun aloud, what does it sound like? Not intentional I might add.but there's a guy I know named Trey and Gun is associated with Trowa...review and tell me what you think Trey Gun sounds like.  
  
The doorbell made its eighth ringing that day.  
  
"Wonder who it is this time," Hilde commented.  
  
"It's either Heero's G-Alloid or Trowa's G-Alloid." Jerome said.  
  
"Which means it's gonna get pretty bright and pretty windy." Duo stated with a smirk, pulling out his sunglasses.  
  
"Cheater," Trio mumbled under her breath. "Jerome? Do we have any sunglasses?"  
  
"Why?" Trio gave him a hard glare. "Oh. Sandrio?"  
  
"Who's that?" Hilde asked.  
  
"Andrio's twin brother." Sandrio replied, stepping out of the shadows. "I took the liberty of grabbing these after I got a very distressed call down to my room from Andrio." He pulled out a bag of sunglasses and passed them around quickly.  
  
As he was handing Trio her pair, a young, sandy-haired boy walked in. Quatre, Duo, Jerome and Trio moved in front of the boy to block his view of Trowa. It was just inside the closed door and they boy looked confused.  
  
"Sorry kid, but you can't see Trowa just yet." Duo stated. The boy's quick and calculated gaze passed over all of the winged children with mild enthusiasm. He could see Trowa's hair but not his face and he felt a strong desire pulling him forward.  
  
"Hold it," the bat winged girl said, "close your eyes and let me lead you to the middle of the room."  
  
"Why? Who are you?"  
  
"Trio Hawk, and it's better you be in the middle to face him, I don't think the girls want to go crashing against the wall again. What's your name by the way?"  
  
"Trey Gun. I."  
  
"Just do it," Quatre said quietly. "Don't make them force you. You'll see in a minute why."  
  
"Quatre?"  
  
"Yes, I'm Quatre Winner." Having confirmed Quatre's identity, he grasped Trio's hand and closed his eyes tight.  
  
"Promise you won't look?" She asked.  
  
"Yes." Was the reply. Trio pulled Trey forward to the middle of the floor. She turned him west, which was the wall where Trowa sat and let go.  
  
"Now wait till I say 'now' okay?" Trio ran for the wall. She stopped next to Alex and as soon as she reached the wall she yelled, "NOW!"  
  
Trey opened his eyes to see the partially covered face of the ex-Heavyarms pilot. His eyes were suddenly aglow with the heavy, yet eerie green glow that seemed to come forth from the G-Alloids during their strange transformation. Unlike Alex, his wind and light did not come gently. Instead, it came with fierceness. Trey had not yet called the pleading call "master."  
  
But through the deafening wind Shinna could heard Trey screaming "MASTER!!!"  
  
Those who were against the wall were merely pushed back while those not completely against the wall were thrown against it. If it hadn't have been for the sunglasses, everyone would have been instantly blinded.  
  
Amongst the wind, Alex could hear a scream of pain, joy and sorrow at the eerie awakening that seemed to take place with the young and tender G- Alloid. Alex could decipher the pain of being an "abomination" as they were sometimes called and the pain of not having a true family. He could hear the joy of finally meeting his "father" and finally being allowed to see the four kids who were stuck in the same situation. And finally he could hear sorrow. The dread of knowing his sheltered life was at an end, that soon the whole world would know him and more than likely fear him. Alex could hear all that.  
  
Alex was mentally, for the most part, very much like Quatre, but unlike the pacifistic pilot, he felt the bitterest hatred that anyone would or could ever feel against the people who had created them into a world that had let the Gundams go to rest. He yearned to show his "creators" what true hatred and bitterness was like, and he felt he would soon get that chance.  
  
Trey's light finally faded but his wings were still flapping, trying to dry off the short brown fur that made up his wings. Trey, like the girls, was flapping unconsciously. His wings seemed to create the horrible wind and Trio couldn't figure out why his "wind-tunnel" was so much fiercer.  
  
Alex, who was standing not far from Trio, spoke up. "He feels pain, joy and sorrow. His wind was fiercer because he feels these emotions."  
  
"But why would he feel pain, joy and sorrow more acutely than the rest of us?" She frowned.  
  
"I don't know.maybe he's more aware of the media or the 'X' or something."  
  
Finally the wind died down and Trey floated to the ground. Trowa walked over to the boy and reached down to touch his hair. It was soft, soft like a baby lion's fur. It was shaggy but didn't hang over his eyes like Trowa's. Trowa touched it tenderly.  
  
'Is he truly my son? He does have my DNA, so.' Trowa's thoughts left off. It was incredible that such a creature, half human and half Gundam could exist, but that it was from his DNA, he couldn't comprehend. How could this little 'child' exist as he was? He wasn't quite human but not quite Gundam. Trowa had a hard time believing that this child was real. But before he could think any more thoughts about this horrendous act of disregard for human life and young children, Trey stirred under Trowa's gentle hand. Trowa lifted his hand away and Trey reached up and looked up at Trowa admiringly.  
  
"Trowa." he whispered. Then, because he was so exhausted, his head and hand unceremoniously dropped to the floor.  
  
"Oh, no." Catherine said, rushing over to the boy and lifting his head on her lap. "Trey, Trey, wake up. Come on, wake up."  
  
"No, let him sleep," Trowa said, picking up the boy gingerly and placing him on his stomach on the bench. "He's been through a lot."  
  
"You mean the wings?" Catherine asked, walking up to stand at her brother's side.  
  
"No, his whole life he's lived like a frightened beast, afraid to even make a friend for fear that they in turn will fear him. He.he knows EXACTLY who he is, but not what he is.I understand where he's coming from."  
  
"But how can you know that, Trowa?"  
  
"It's in his eyes." 'Yes, his eyes. The joy of finally meeting your "pilot". He called me master. It was my old friend, Heavyarms, but I just wish Heavyarms had stayed dead. Who would hurt these children like this? Who would want weapons of such destruction to live on? How could someone hurt US like this? Who wants to inflict such pain upon the world to create something of a little child that people would hate?' Trowa was jolted out of his frustrated, worried thoughts to the sound of the doorbell ringing its final chord.  
  
Everyone looked to the door expectantly. Sandrio nodded and cracked the door open to yell at his brother in Portuguese. A reply was heard and the front door creaked open.  
  
Trowa picked up Trey and pushing his wings down on his back as far as he dared, put him under the bench, and sitting down in front of him in preparation for the windy assault.  
  
Trio glanced uneasily at the door and at the other G-Alloids. Biting her lip she went and sat down next to Trowa on the floor, pushing her wings between the pilot and the bench to further shield the sleeping boy.  
  
Alex walked over and sat down in front of Trowa to shield him, and Shinna sat in front of Trio, protecting her.  
  
'We'll be prepared this time,' Shinna was thinking. 'Many lives have been in danger with this "transformation" and the most helpless of all is Trey. He can't even defend himself! So we'll do it for him. If I protect Trio, Alex protects Trowa, Trowa protects Trey and TRIO protects Trey, he should have no problems.'  
  
Andrio, who was visibly shaken, stuck half his body through the cracked door." Daemon Zero to see you, Sir." This time about, Andrio didn't close the door, in fact, he seemed scared to open it more. Much to Andrio's surprise, it opened without his assistance and admitted a young boy, who was a Heero look-alike; even down to the deadly, yet calculated gaze and deep azure eyes. 


	8. Unwilling Participant

"I'm here," Daemon said in a quiet, yet confident voice. "And I sense something's wrong. What is it? Something's not right."  
  
"Why do you say that, Daemon?" Jerome asked. Darien turned his gaze on Jerome.  
  
"I can sense energy, and a lot of it. Where's it coming from." Something caught his eye and his gaze jerked over to three visible teenagers. "Them." His eyes went wide. "NO!" He closed his eyes tight and put his hands in little balls. "NO! I WON'T! I WON'T! I'm not going to give the 'X' more of a chance to kill me! I will survive! I won't give them more chances!" He calmed down, like he'd figured it out. He opened his eyes and released his hands. "So, this where all the energy is coming from. And you're all sitting right there to get ready for that blast, well you don't have to worry, it's not coming."  
  
"I don't get it." Relena said.  
  
"You don't have to, Vice Foreign Minister, you don't have to." He didn't even look at her. His gaze remained straightforward. "I'll explain. Every family I've ever had has died because they were trying to save me. My favorite family had three daughters and all of them were shot to death right in front of me. 'Anyone who aids these abominations shall die" was the phrase the murderers muttered as they shot three innocent girls to death!"  
  
"But that doesn't explain why you won't allow this to occur." Heero replied.  
  
It became visibly hard for Daemon to keep his gaze forward and he scowled at the effort. "Isn't it obvious? If I let this little transformation occur they'll.they'll."  
  
"See? There's no reason not to. You're going to have to fight back sooner or later and NOW's the chance." Wufei stated.  
  
"NO! I won't them hurt anymore people! The more they know about me the more they'll know about my family and then more people I love will die!"  
  
"Still, if you don't fight back NOW, not even you will survive."  
  
"FINE!" Daemon yelled. He reached in his back pocket, pulling out a small pistol. "I'll kill myself so they don't have to worry about me!" He cocked the gun and aimed it at his temple. As he pulled the trigger Heero was right behind him and yanked the gun upward, sending the deadly bullet into the ceiling.  
  
"That's enough." Heero said, "Now turn around and face me. The other four surviving G-Alloids have transformed, and there's no logical reason not to. Yea, people have died, but people will die, it's the cycle of life. The only way to stop the killing is to fight back. This is the perfect opportunity to fight back. Now, turn around." Heero reached up with his other hand and yanked the gun out of Daemon's hand, throwing it behind him. With the already upraised hand he wheeled Daemon around. His eyes were closed and he yanked violently and blindly to get free.  
  
"NOO!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"What's the real reason?" Trio asked, standing up. Everyone looked at her except Daemon, who kept his eyes closed.  
  
"What do you mean? Who are you?"  
  
"Trio Hawk, Deathscythe G-Alloid. What I meant was what is the real reason you're afraid to transform? Heero, let him go, I want to talk to him, alone." Daemon's eyes cracked open in surprise. Heero growled and threw the boy away from him.  
  
"He may have my blood, but he's a coward." Heero muttered.  
  
"That's not true! You don't know what I've been through!"  
  
"But I do," Heero said.  
  
"No! You."  
  
"DAEMON! Stop arguing with your father and follow me."  
  
"He's not my father!"  
  
"You have his blood," Trio said, turning toward the north wall. "And that makes him your father." Trio walked to the north door and pulled it open. Daemon glared at her and walked across the room, his footsteps echoing across the floor. Once he reached the door he stopped. Trio made an equal glare and motioned with her head to keep moving. His response was another glare.  
  
After he passed through, Trio said, "This won't take long." She slammed the door shut and took out a key on her neck and locked the door.  
  
"What'd you do that for?" Daemon asked as Trio replaced the key.  
  
"You're not going anywhere until you tell me what's wrong with you. This is the only door out, only door in."  
  
"I'm not going to give the 'X' another chance to kill my family. If I stay normal I can live in peace."  
  
"Then what? What're you going to do when they find your family right now? They're going to kill them like all the others unless you strike back! Your family will die! It'll be YOUR fault."  
  
"SHUT UP! I can't take anymore of this! Have you ever lost a loved one?"  
  
"Jerome's been my father since I was stolen. But he lost a loved one because of me. Yet, he continues to fight for me."  
  
"Stolen?"  
  
"Yes, they had us all in a room, us babies. We were so tiny and we were so hungry. They couldn't find any women except drugged up prostitutes to breast-feed us. And the bottles weren't warm enough and we were slowly starving.  
  
"Jerome said he found out about us and took as many babies as his wife and him could carry. He managed to get all five of us into the car, but just as his wife climbed in, she was shot from behind and she begged to be left, 'Save the babies' was the last thing she said. I'm going to fight to defeat the 'X' because I'm tired of living in fear, and to avenge Julie's death.  
  
"Now, what's the real reason you're so afraid to transform? The wings are quite nice and none of the others have the same wings."  
  
"I.I've been hearing voices in my head for a while. It keeps saying, 'I will destroy my enemies. Let me free so I can kill once again. Give me wings so I may hunt them wherever they go. Give me a voice, so I may contact the others so they may also destroy the enemy. Give me a weapon with which to strike them down.'"  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
"Wing Zero." 


	9. The Okay to Go

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Read the reviews, I made a review (yes, on my own story, but oh well. I'm not quite right in the head as it is.) and it has a favor to ask of all you people who like my stories and the details, GO LAURCHAN! Good (and easy) guess.Anyway, enjoy. Add me to your fav list! PLEASE? Two people already did, doomo arigatou gozaimasu!  
  
"What?! How's that possible?"  
  
"Part Gundam remember?"  
  
"Yea, I know that," Trio shook her head. "But." she sighed. "You're going to cooperate, Daemon."  
  
"What makes you think you can stop me? Zero was the strongest Gundam."  
  
"It's not the Gundam I'll be fighting. Remember? Zero's still asleep."  
  
"Then how come I hear his voice?"  
  
"I don't know, but I beg you, please. This is our only chance to have the power to strike back!"  
  
"No, I'm not giving him the chance to kill."  
  
"Damn, I wish I could talk to him, talk some reason into him."  
  
'You can.' A mechanical, yet humorous voice said in her head.  
  
"Who are you?" Trio said silently.  
  
'Deathscythe, who else? We don't need to be awake to talk ya know.'  
  
"You've gotta help me, help me talk some sense into Zero, and Daemon. If he doesn't do it now, what'll happen if he does it near a crowd?"  
  
'Explain that to Daemon.see if it works.'  
  
"Daemon," Trio said aloud, "Did you think this through?"  
  
"What do you mean? Of course I thought it through!"  
  
"Did you think what'll happen if you accidentally see Heero and you transform in public? Not only will people be injured, but the 'X' will find you! Let me talk to Zero."  
  
"What? Talk to Zero?"  
  
"Yes, open your mind. I've got to have a WORD with this Gundam." Daemon nodded and closed his eyes.  
  
'You're good.' Deathscythe said self-satisfactorily. 'Let me take over, at least to get you in there.' She felt part of her reaching out and after a long stretch it reached a feather-like surface. Parting the feathers, Trio found herself face to face with the Wing Zero.her size.  
  
'Welcome.' A calm, deep voice came from the giant machine but because it had no mouth, it's lips did not part to form the words so it seemed as if the words were part of the very air.  
  
"Zero, you're making this difficult."  
  
'I'm aware of that yes.but the desire to kill runs through my circuits and I cannot repel the feelings much longer.'  
  
"You want to kill? Too bad, you're already dead."  
  
'But I live on in Daemon, he's my friend.'  
  
"But you realize how much MORE danger you're going to cause by letting your murderous feelings reach him? By denying him the power that is rightfully his through you living on in him?"  
  
'Trio Hawk, please don't let him transform.I.What if I attack Heero?'  
  
"I don't think you can.and besides you'll just have to make it clear to Daemon that he will not attack Heero no matter what. But you're power is essential to Daemon's very existence. If he doesn't transform the 'X' will find him; I feel their grasp closing in on us every day. If he doesn't transform and become our leader, like Heero, he won't be able to save himself, or anyone else for that matter. This denial to power is going to kill him in the end, not help."  
  
'Why do you feel like this?'  
  
"I've been running my whole life, people dear to me have died for me. Once I transformed I realized this was my one chance to fight back, to destroy the 'X' once and for all!"  
  
'But you realize you can't do this right?'  
  
"Right, but if I show the world what they've done, and what they will do, they might back us up and save us all."  
  
'You realize placing your hopes on humans is hazardous.'  
  
"Yes, I do. But it's my only chance. I'm not going to run anymore. Too many MORE people will die because of me, or they would have, had I not fought back. That's why I want him to transform, so he can help us take back what is given to EVERY SINGLE HUMAN ALIVE: LIFE! I have a right to live it, without fear, without the deaths of others because of me."  
  
Zero smiled, 'Do they all feel like this?'  
  
"I don't know, that's why I want him to lead us, so that we WILL all feel like this."  
  
'And why don't you lead?'  
  
Trio shrugged, "I'm Duo's G-Alloid, not Heero's."  
  
'So you think it's his place to lead?'  
  
"If he won't I will, but personally I have no desire to lead."  
  
'All right, I'll talk to Daemon and explain.'  
  
"Try to convince him you won't kill people."  
  
'I can't kill people on my own anyway.'  
  
"WHAT?! Why didn't you tell him that BEFORE?!"  
  
'Calm down, child. Now, leave, this is a private conversation.'  
  
"Fine," Trio said sarcastically. "I don't feel wanted, I'm leaving." She pulled herself out of Daemon's mind.  
  
Trio blinked a few times to clear her eyes. Remembering where she had been she focused on Daemon. He was staring at absolutely nothing, like in a trance. Trio stood there patiently, contemplating whether this would work. Reverse psychology after firmly getting a person to believe something entirely different wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do.  
  
Finally, not having enough patience to wait any longer, Trio waved her hand in front of his face. Surprisingly, he snapped out of his trance.  
  
"You okay, Daemon?"  
  
Still in his trance, Daemon replied, "Yea."  
  
"DAEMON!" Trio yelled, Daemon jumped. "That's better. So?"  
  
"So, what?"  
  
"Are you or are you not?"  
  
"He SOUNDED pretty convincing but I still don't know." Daemon smirked.  
  
"It makes me so happy to think that all five of the last Gundams not only survived but if you transform, we'll all be strong enough to fight our enemies and destroy them once and for all!"  
  
Daemon set his eyes together, putting on the scariest glare/smirk that not even Heero could muster.  
  
"You're right, it's time to fight back, time to make the guys who killed my three families pay, time to show them we're not babies anymore, and we're not defenseless. Give them the okay to go. Get them ready, it's show time!"  
  
So.. How'd you like this chapter? Was it too choppy? Not convincing enough? Review and tell me.it's your job. ( 


	10. The Last Transformation and Heero's Inte...

AN: Sorry if the 'Gundam' thing confused some people, their existence is crucial at the end of the story. Okay, say this aloud ' Trey's'.what other Gundam Wing character does it sound like?? ;)  
  
"Good," Trio nodded. Poking her head back inside she yelled, "We're coming! You guys all ready?"  
  
"Roger that!" Heero replied.  
  
"Good, cause it's show time. Come on out, Daemon." Trio stepped aside as Daemon walked into the room. He had his eyes closed.  
  
"Tell me when you're safely out of range, Trio."  
  
"Roger that, I'm against the wall," Trio said, reaching the wall. "GO!"  
  
Daemon's eyes flew open and immediately latched onto Heero. Heero stepped forward until he was only three feet away from Daemon. Daemon didn't fall to his knees like some of the others, the light and wind didn't start to swirl like Alex's, nor did it burst out like Trio, Shinna, or Trey's. Daemon just stood, facing Heero. A tear slipped down both their right cheeks simultaneously.  
  
"Daemon, it's been a long time, too long."  
  
"Though we've never met, we're both alike, we're both alone."  
  
"We are one, the Zero and I, are you one with Zero?"  
  
"No, but I will be one day, a day when I know in my heart he's my friend and will not go against my will. That he will help me in my day of need and guide me. That he is not just a machine, who believes in his heart that his only purpose, is destruction. He has not shown me that, has he shown you?"  
  
"No, he hasn't. But the worst part about being in your shoes, kid, is that you're stuck with him.forever."  
  
"That is why I did not wish to transform, I didn't know his true intentions."  
  
"Only one way to find out isn't there?"  
  
"Yes, but I don't feel the need to let it all out, I wish to keep my feelings a secret. I wish not to show my weakness to the enemy."  
  
"So be it. Control your emotions, I know you can. Don't let the feeling escape."  
  
Daemon nodded. "So be...Master!" Light and wind burst forth from Daemon, but it did not go outward like the others, piercing their tender vision and pushing them every-which way. It went inward, into Daemon's very soul. It shown light upon his troubled and bloody past. It blew away the dark clouds that covered even his early childhood, which no one ever remembers. Everyone could see the horror he felt when his families were murdered right before his loving, innocent eyes. Everyone could see his yearning for revenge that only grew stronger as he transformed. But most of all, every single person in that room, regardless of position, could see the Wing Zero Custom, inside Daemon's lighted skull, rearing his beautiful, metal head, yearning to help his troubled friend.  
  
They could see that Wing Zero Custom was becoming one with Daemon, his arms becoming Daemon's arms, his legs becoming Daemon's legs, and the most tell- tale sign of all: Zero's wings becoming Daemon's wings. They burst forth in a spew of light, Daemon screamed once, calling to Zero. Daemon's wings were now that of the Wing Zero Custom, the most beautiful Gundam in creation. Its angelic wings hardened into feathers, and his tender wings stretched out, to the stars above, crying for deliverance from the pain.  
  
Daemon was finally able to open his eyes. He saw the Perfect Soldier crying, crying for his son, his Gundam, and this precious little boy who was forced to become something that no one should have had to become.  
  
The Gundam's were killing machines by nature, not innocent little children who had no choice, even when they were born. People who believed they could create human life out of scratch already chose their destiny. These poor children had to live with what had been bestowed upon them, and paid a price for what was now rightfully theirs: life.  
  
Zero's gentle voice floated toward the crying ex-pilot. "It's okay, Heero. He has the power to protect himself."  
  
"But he also has the power you've bestowed upon him, Zero: the power to kill and from your heart: the yearning for revenge. He doesn't deserve this; none of the G-Alloids deserves this. They should have been our natural children, born from their mother's womb, and from the father's loins. And most importantly.you should've stayed dead. The world has no need for you now, you're work is done."  
  
"Nonsense, my work is never done, wars are constantly raging."  
  
"But why a little boy? Why did you have to kill him, yet keep him alive?"  
  
"Someday this boy will become a man."  
  
"And Trio and Shinna? What of them?"  
  
"The fate of the world should not be placed on the shoulders of man-kind alone, for women also live in this world. I need your help, Heero. Master, I need you to raise this boy from now on, to show him how to fight for what is good, and to fight for life. He has yet to know the difference. To him, life is the same as death, as is good and evil."  
  
Daemon's voice took control. "I, Daemon, believe that if I die, it's the same as being alive, because the only people that notice are the enemy. Show me compassion, show me love, show me what humanity really is." Heero slipped to the ground.  
  
"Mission accepted." Heero muttered. "Now, finish your duty and leave him be for now."  
  
"Roger that," Zero replied. Daemon's body returned from it's internal revelation. His wings stayed stretched out. He did not fall to the ground, but walked over to Heero and leaned down to him.  
  
"Father, get up. Don't show a sign of weakness."  
  
"Crying for the pain the G-Alloids have had to go through and his love for his biological son isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of humanity. This is what you wanted him to show you." Relena walked up to two men. Daemon stood up to acknowledge his mother.  
  
"He's sad that this had to happen to you. The Gundam's were a huge part of his life and he wanted them to leave his troubled soul forever. He cries for all the pain that the Gundam symbolizes in his life."  
  
"Why then, is he so strong?"  
  
"Because he's not afraid to show the world. He has proven to everyone time after time that sometimes sacrifice for the ones you love in any form, is what truly understanding yourself is, and true love."  
  
Daemon smiled and stepped around Heero to hug Relena.  
  
"This is humanity and compassion? Yes, you're right, it is. I see it. Caring for people you love and fighting for their lives is what this fight is all about."  
  
"This is all very touching, but now that all of our remaining creations are here and ready, we'd like to see what they can handle." Every turned from the center of the room to the corner where no one stood.  
  
In it stood...  
  
"Dr. J." Heero declared, standing to his feet, regaining his tear-stained glaring face. "I thought you were dead."  
  
"You were suppose to, Heero Yuy. But now all of our creations are here, we'd like to check them out."  
  
"Keep away from us, and from them." Daemon said, stepping past the ex- pilot. "We're not your toys ANYMORE." 


	11. Freedom and Free Will Denied

AN: In this chapter it will go over the most crucial object and slightly explain the Gundam talking to Daemon. Sorry if that confused everyone but it's also a crucial part of the story.  
  
"You don't have the right to say that, Daemon Zero. No, we've deprived you of even your right for free will and freedom."  
  
"Who are you?!" Daemon called out fiercely. "Who has the right to take away someone's free will and freedom?!"  
  
"Your creators of course. Even if you were completely human born from a mother's womb, she too could take it away."  
  
"But you are not my mother, nor any of theirs."  
  
"You speak the truth," Professor G, who was standing next to Dr. J. interrupted. "But we are your creators, the people DIRECTLY responsible for your creation. If it weren't for us."  
  
"We would have been born to our parents as regular, natural children." Alex stood up. His angry voice betrayed more than just his anger. It betrayed all his pain and the knowledge of everyone else's pain and suffering. "It's YOUR fault we're even G-Alloids. It's your entire fault that countless other people had to die. WHY!?"  
  
"Because, we created the Gundams and they were destroyed." Master O. said. "For every person that's died in the Operation G., we've given up that same amount of years of our lives dedicated to the machines that are now a part of you. We felt that it was unfair that so much of our lives be wasted."  
  
"But they weren't wasted," Relena interjected. "They made peace for the Earth, and for the colonies. Isn't that enough?"  
  
"No, it's not. We didn't even get a thank you, or even a little bit of acknowledgement." Dr. J. said.  
  
"So it's for fame is it?" Duo asked.  
  
"Partly yes, partly no. It's not just the fame, it's the power. We controlled the pilots of our machines without their direct knowledge."  
  
"What do you mean?" Wufei asked irritably.  
  
"Without the Gundams we slaved away on, you wouldn't have been able to win the fight."  
  
"Why children though?" Catherine added.  
  
"Because, one day these children will be adults, and they will have the ability to control and bring out their potentials to the fullest extent. If we started with an adult, it would've taken years for them to learn to use their power, and by that time, they would be too old to care."  
  
"So you disregarded these human's lives and didn't even bother to ask the PARENTS if it was okay?!" Heero lost his patience.  
  
"If we'd asked you it is obvious what the answer would have been."  
  
"Look, we could have this philosophical debate all day if we chose, but we've got more important things to do." Dr. J. interrupted. "We came here to retrieve our experiments. Now that you've transformed we are your masters."  
  
"I don't think so!" Trio yelled. All five doctors turned their heads toward Trio.  
  
"So," Professor G. said, "you're the end result of my Deathscythe Gundam. And the first to transform."  
  
"Why you little cheat! I'm going to kill you!!" Trio launched herself at the doctor. He reached inside his coat pocket and pushed a button. Trio felt a surge of power race through her.  
  
"STOP!" The doctor said. Trio's wings jerked her to a halt. Trio had a shocked look on her face but she struggled against her invisible bonds.  
  
"Let me go! What'd you do?!"  
  
"I activated your remote." Professor G. said, pulling out a small black remote with five guarded buttons. The on/off button was lighted red, the signal for on. "Who ever hold this remote, holds your freedom.and ultimately your life."  
  
"They can't kill me with a simple remote," Trio retorted.  
  
"True," Professor G. said, "but the push of this one button," he pointed to a button. "Can destroy you."  
  
"What are you talking about you back stabbing son of a b."  
  
"Duo Maxwell, is that any way to talk to your Professor?"  
  
"No, but it is the way to talk to an inconsiderate man!"  
  
"Silence, Duo, or I'll have her attack you."  
  
"NO!!!!!!!" Trio screamed.  
  
"Then calm down. There are five buttons on this simple black remote. One is the 'on/off button' that activates your Gundam side and will respond to whoever holds the remote. The second is the 'wing button' that can make the wings retract into a tattoo on your back though bringing out the wings will always tear the back of your shirts. The third is a 'sleep button' that will make you fall asleep until it is pushed again. The fourth will allow you to shut off communications with the other G-Alloids and the last.is a self-destruction button."  
  
"About that sleep button.does it just put the Gundam part of us to sleep or the whole person?" Alex asked.  
  
"When this remote is on, every button portrays to the whole person because the Gundam is at this time, one with you and you're one with it."  
  
"But what about the Gundams themselves? Do they have the ability to communicate with us?"  
  
"While the Gundams were machines, they also had a personality, just like the Sandrock Gundam let Quatre out before it self-destructed. Like how the Wing Zero pushed itself past its limits for Heero. Yes, it is believed they can communicate with you like regular people, except it is only in your head. This theory, however, hasn't been proven yet, and that's why we need you."  
  
"And if we refuse to be human guinea pigs?" Shinna spat.  
  
"You haven't got a choice, but if you do rebel," Doctor S. spoke up for the first time, "we will punish the ex-Gundam pilots."  
  
"What? Why?" Jerome said.  
  
"Because while the Gundams love their pilots, they are still just machines and we control them. And we can make them do whatever we want."  
  
"This is sick," Wufei said. "Threatening to kill us if they don't behave is hardly a threat."  
  
"True," Professor G. said, "but why don't we show them how much it hurts, my little G-Alloid?"  
  
"Leave Trio out of this!" Duo shouted taking a step forward.  
  
"Hold it right there," Duo stopped. "She's the only one with her remote on and if anyone else moves, we'll activate the others. Once we turn these on you'll lose your free will and precious freedom forever." Everyone shifted uneasily.  
  
"Now, Trio, show Duo your special weapon." Trio's arm went up. As hard as she tried, she couldn't force it back down. It swept in a scythe shaped arc. Once her hand got to the 'end' it raced back up the hardening shape to grasp it. Once her hand firmly clamped on the now fully formed metal, the blade lit up. It was a scythe just like Deathscythe's.  
  
"Please, leave me alone," Trio begged. "Don't hurt him."  
  
"But if I don't, how will I make an example of the results of disobedience? Trio," Professor G. turned to face Duo head on. "Attack Duo." Trio's body unwillingly launched itself toward the terrified pilot.  
  
(Don't you just LOVE cliffhangers? ( 


	12. Three Gundam Rules Declared

Trio's body flew toward the shocked pilot.  
  
"Help me!" Trio screamed.  
  
"Gundam Rule 1: Never attack your pilot!" Daemon screamed in reply. Trio's body yanked itself to a halt with only an inch between Duo's face and the scythe. Duo breathed a sigh of relief before backing up a few paces.  
  
"What?! How is that possible?!" Dr. J. said.  
  
"NOW!" Daemon shouted. In that instance, Professor G. had lost his concentration and control over Trio and was in shock like everyone else. Trio turned around and flew at him so fast he could only flinch as Trio's scythe hit him between the left shoulder and neck. The energy part of the scythe cut through his skin like a knife cuts through a flower petal.  
  
"This is what I get for creating a killing machine." He gasped once and dropping the remote, collapsed to the floor in a pool of his own crimson red blood.  
  
"Professor!!! NO!!" Instructor H. screamed, running for his friend. Trio, who was more concerned with her remote, let go of her scythe. In the instant she let go, it disappeared. Trio hesitated for a second to touch the dead doctor's hand but seeing Instructor H. coming toward her, Trio hurriedly lifted the dead man's hand and bit her lip to keep from vomiting. She grabbed her remote. Shaking she back up quickly, right into Duo, whom had stepped back up behind her. He turned her around to see tears flowing like dam down her cheeks.  
  
"I'm so sorry," Duo said, giving his daughter a firm, understanding hug. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you from that. No child should ever have to take a life, never. But," he lifted his eyes to the four remaining doctors, "no one should ever force them to, to keep their freedom."  
  
Daemon stood up tall and flexed his wings. His dark blue eyes shown with an unnatural bluish glow. His hair swayed a little as his wings flapped back and forth a few times.  
  
"As the unofficial leader of the G-Alloids, I declare that every G-Alloid has the ability to make one rule that cannot be broken, regardless of ANY situation they are presented with. This rule must be applied to all G- Alloids and can only be done to save a G-Alloid from causing bodily harm."  
  
"Who said you have the right to do such a thing?" Master O. asked, pulling out a forest green remote that besides the color, was identical to Trio's. "Shinna, I command you," he pushed the 'on/off' button. "To attack Quatre!"  
  
Shinna gasped at the thought and screamed as the 'on/off' button was pushed. She ran her hand an invisible line. She grabbed her arm and tried to keep it from completing the process of creating her weapon, but her right arm was stronger. Her hand ran down a straight line the length of her body, as Trio had done, and as she stood up and raced her hand up the handle, the ends lit up in the triton-like weapon pertaining to the Nataku/Shenlong Gundam emerged.  
  
As she launched toward the shocked ex-pilot, in a state of unknown panic, she declared her one law.  
  
"Gundam Rule 2: NEVER ATTACK A FELLOW GUNDAM PILOT!!" Shinna jerked herself to a halt. Looking up she was shocked to see Dorothy standing in front of Quatre.  
  
"Thank you, Dorothy."  
  
"No, thank you, Shinna. For using your ONE law, to save not only Quatre, but me as well."  
  
"You cannot outsmart us at every turn, we made you ya know!" Dr. S. declared.  
  
"That may be true," Trey declared. "But we will always be one step ahead of you. Very soon we will figure out a rule that will end your life."  
  
"It is not possible. You cannot declare us to stop living." Professor G. said.  
  
"That is also true," Daemon said. "But I intend to kill you. Each of us will promise in our hearts that we will kill whoever is responsible for creating us, and the original creator of our Gundam. That's how we will atone for their sins."  
  
"By then it will already be too late," Dr. J. declared, "for we will have found a logical reason to activate every single one of your remotes by then."  
  
"You mean you cannot activate them until." Alex stuttered.  
  
"We can activate them at any time," Professor G. interjected. "But we want YOU to be the reason all of you lost your freedom. You, Trio and Shinna, will think back upon this day and wish you had never given us a reason to push the 'on/off' button. For I plan to make you suffer for all the pain, sorrow and torture I've been through."  
  
"Then I will make her unable to carry out your commands!" Daemon shouted. He willed into existence (through the power of Wing Zero) a small pistol.  
  
"Daemon, NO!" Alex shouted. Alex, who was closer than Daemon, managed to get in front of him and push the gun up so when Daemon fired the bullet into the ceiling.  
  
"Daemon, what are you doing!? Are you trying to kill her?!"  
  
"Of course not, but Trio is the one who will make the final wish, I feel it will be the call for freedom. The rule we need to give us victory this time."  
  
"But is attacking her the way to attain it?!"  
  
"Two more people must make their wishes before she does and this is the only way I can force them to!"  
  
"This is nuts!"  
  
"Then do something!"  
  
"So be it," Alex took on an unnatural glare and pushed Daemon back as hard as he could. Daemon flew a few feet back and stopped, leveling the gun at Alex.  
  
"It had better be quick, Alex. For in mere seconds, I'm going to pull the trigger, and you're the one it's pointed at."  
  
Raising his right index finger up above his head, in a dramatic fashion he declared, "Gundam Rule 3: Never attack another G-Alloid!" He lowered his index finger and pointed at Daemon, who gasped as the gun turned fiery hot and disappeared as he let go.  
  
Dr. J. clapped. "That was impressive, Daemon, that's just what I would expect from the leader of the G-Alloids. But.my next attack shall be against you." Pulling out Daemon's white remote, he pushed the 'on/off' button. Daemon gasped as the full potential of the Gundam's power raced through his veins.  
  
"Now, DIE!" Dr. J. uncovered the red button at the bottom and jammed his finger onto it. Daemon was suddenly covered in a red, flashing light. Daemon gasped again. Realizing he might blow up and kill people he pushed himself up to the ceiling.  
  
"NO! He's going to self-destruct!!" Heero screamed. "Someone help him!" 


	13. The Final Call for Freedom, Granted

AN: Sorry if some of you like the doctors'.. whahahaha! He's fine.but as for Dr. J., well, I got plans for him...*maniacal laugh*  
  
"Gundam Rule 4:" Trey shouted, "never respond to the self-destruct button!" Everyone looked up to see Daemon's red light die down. He breathed a sigh of relief and calmly let himself float to the ground. Dr. J. scowled.  
  
"You've only got one rule left, and then you're out of options." Dr. J. said with a smirk.  
  
"But I'M the one who's going to make it, doesn't that make you feel uneasy?" Trio asked.  
  
"Yes, it does, but I'm going to force you to make a foolish decision."  
  
"I want to find out some information first. First, how were we created?"  
  
"Trio!" Alex barked. "That's no question to ask at a time like this!"  
  
"I want to know, what's so wrong about that? You're afraid of the answer aren't you?" Alex mumbled under his breath.  
  
"Why not, with all rules you've compiled, I can't keep you from killing me." Dr. J. walked over to a bench on the wall farthest from any of the G- Alloids or their pilots. The remaining three doctors followed. Instructor H. seemed a little hesitant to leave Professor G. and he gave Trio a death glare.  
  
"Sandrio! Get this mess cleaned up!" Trio shouted. Momentarily a Portuguese man walked in and with the help of an identical man (Andrio) they picked up the doctor. As they lifted him up Trio heard a barely audible groan. Frowning, she turned around to see Professor G. blink.  
  
"Impossible.incredible but impossible."  
  
"You did not cut him as much as you thought." Sandrio managed to say. "You let go of your scythe the second he dropped the remote."  
  
"Oh, darn," Trio said calmly.  
  
"Why you little..!" Instructor H. sputtered. He attempted to get up, but was pulled down by Doctor S.  
  
"He held my life in his hands and I just took it back as best as I could.now, Dr. J., tell me about how we were created."  
  
"Why don't you sit down, Trio?"  
  
"Because, I'm better equipped to handle threats when I'm standing up." Trio flexed her wings to make her point.  
  
"All right. Now, when we first thought up this idea, there was a committee of about 7 doctors. One died and later in the experiment, one disappeared with the injection for the Dark Gundam and the OZ Gundam Epyon. We don't know where he disappeared to. Even to this day, we search.  
  
"As for the your genetic makeup, we took blood secretly taken from, take you for example, Duo and Hilde. We then added a special enzyme that makes the bloods come together and fuse regardless of the types. Having the two fused, we added almost invisible pieces of the Deathscythe Hell's main computer, or at least what was left of it. When we found out how insignificant this was, we added more Gundaniam Alloy and it is what gave you power, not the weapons, but the power and wings. We charged the blood with positive ions and the blood fused itself with the computer and remaining Gundaniam Alloy. This was how you started out.  
  
"The most important part was the birth itself. You're test tube babies if that's what you want to know."  
  
"That's not all I wanted to know. Like even though that explains a lot, how was it we got the weapons?"  
  
"I was getting to that.after all of you were fully developed, we had you moved to a special babies unit in the hospital in town where they cared for you, except you weren't quite normal. Every one of you had a line going into your arm filled with little bits of data, and little pictures. We knew that what computer had been imputed would be sufficient to create the desired results."  
  
"So that's the story of our lives!" Shinna said bitterly.  
  
"You lived in the hospital for many months. We were about to take you out and put you in a foster home or adoption home or some other place so we could keep track of you, until you were stolen."  
  
"Stolen? How?" Daemon blinked. Trios turned for a moment, and realized that only the G-Alloids were standing. Every one else had sat down on the benches surrounding the circular room.  
  
"Look to Mr. Jerome. He arrived one day and started a wing of the hospital on fire. It gave him and his wife enough time to run into the room and steal some of the babies. Coincidentally, the six babies they managed to steal are the only survivors."  
  
"Six? I only count five." Trey said.  
  
"He's not talking about us," Trio voiced. Her voice was hollow and her face had no expression. "He's talking about the Shinning Gundam G-Alloid."  
  
"And do you remember his name? I can refresh your memory, Trio."  
  
"Kamui Hahzel." Trio replied.  
  
"What kind of name is that?!" Shinna asked.  
  
"He lived in Turkey the last time I saw him."  
  
"You KNEW him?" Daemon asked. His voice was full of concern and curiosity.  
  
"He was my best friend but in second grade he moved and I never heard from him or saw him again." Trio shook her head," All right, I've got what I wanted to know. Test tube babies. PAH! Why couldn't we at least be BORN normal?!"  
  
"That's just the way it happened. Now, if you don't mind, we have to leaving with our remaining experiments."  
  
"Two more questions. How many did you create? How many survived?"  
  
"We originally created 33. Only 5 have been positively identified. Now," the doctors stood up. "We need to be going."  
  
"Hold it old man." Shinna said. "Trio has yet to make her rule."  
  
"It doesn't matter to us," Instructor H. said.  
  
"But it matters to my friends who you're telling are just pieces of experiments and not in the least bit human."  
  
"I never said they weren't human, but we are their creators. And that gives us rule over them."  
  
Lowering her head and glaring Trio said, "Not anymore. I declare my rule, my friends, come close." The G-Alloids got directly behind Trio. The doctors backed up a little to the doors on that side of the wall.  
  
"My rule. Gundam Rule 5: If the person holding your remote is not biologically related to you, they hold no control over you."  
  
With the end of this rule all four doctors gasped. Master O. threw Alex's sandy-colored remote at him. Alex caught it and stepped back to where Quatre was now standing. Doctor S. hesitated but walked over to Trey and handed him his gray remote. Doctor S. stepped back with Master O. who had went and stood at the doors leading to the room Trio had taken Daemon to. Instructor H. gave Trio another death glare but chucked Shinna her forest green remote.  
  
"I will not yield." Dr. J. said. "Daemon, destroy the ceiling."  
  
"You have no power over me," Daemon replied.  
  
"Then I'll take you with me." Dr. J. pulled out a high power energy gun and pointed it at the distracted Sally. Daemon gasped and screamed her name but by the time that she heard the laser had been fired. Trey, who had wandered nearby to Sally, heard the laser and jumped in front of Sally. When the laser hit him, it hit equally all over his crossed arms and blew away as if nothing had even hit him. Dr. J. stuttered.  
  
"I would have let you live with your crimes," Daemon declared, again flexing his wings. "But you just crossed the line. Prepare yourself."  
  
"I will not yield!" Dr. J. yelled, pulling out a regular gun. He fired it right at Daemon who stared the bullet down. As it reached him, he brought his hand up and flicked it back at the shocked doctor. He, however, could not dodge the bullet and it hit him in the chest. He collapsed to the floor in a pool of his own crimson blood. Unlike the last time a doctor had been wounded, everyone knew Dr. J. was dead.  
  
"Sandrio, Andrio, can you take care of this?" Jerome muttered.  
  
"Yes, sir. Professor G. is stable." The twins came in and tenderly picked up the actually dead doctor. As Sandrio walked past Daemon, he handed him his white remote.  
  
"For you, sir." Daemon took it without a word.  
  
"He brought it on himself," Daemon said quietly. Trio understood how he felt, she too had felt his pain.  
  
"I think it's time to get rid of these pestering doctors and start on a battle strategy." Trio stated quietly.  
  
"But I thought you'd let us leave!" Master O. said.  
  
"We plan on it," Alex said, "but we cannot have you here anymore. LEAVE!" 


	14. The Next Step

AN: This is going to be a mostly funny chapter.  
  
After the doctors had been shown out by Jerome (Andrio and Sandrio were cleaning up Professor G.), Jerome directed the G-Alloids and pilots to the meeting room down the hall. Trio, who had lived here for many years wasn't impressed. The G-Alloids, however, were shocked at the sheer size of the table.  
  
"How the heck are you suppose to HEAR anyone?" Daemon asked.  
  
"Be very quiet," Was Trio's monotonous reply.  
  
"Oh, yea, that's helpful." Trey added.  
  
"Well, he asked."  
  
"Sit." Jerome left off, realizing that the pilots had been given the remotes, and the G-Alloids wings were still out. "Guys, put those wings up."  
  
"Who? Us?" Alex asked, who had just walked in the room.  
  
"No, the little pink bunnies under the table." Jerome said as sarcastic as possible.  
  
"Where?" Alex asked with a confused expression on his face.  
  
"Never mind. PILOTS, put those wings up, they can't very well sit down."  
  
Duo started to uncover the 'wings' button.  
  
"No," Heero said. "They need to build up their wing strength. Let them fly for a while."  
  
"WHAT?!" All of the G-Alloids said at once.  
  
"That's cruel, Heero," Trio pouted. "Duo-sama," Trio said, putting on puppy eyes. "You're not gonna make me are you?"  
  
"Well," Duo started to say yes but he got a glare from Wufei, Heero, and Trowa. Quatre just shook his head. "'Fraid not, kid. If everyone is going to, it's up into the sky for you too."  
  
"Blast," Trio muttered. Shrugging, Daemon motioned everyone up. They all got up easily, but Trey and Alex had trouble staying up because they had not used them at all since drying them off. The other three laughed as Shinna dropped a little too low and bonked Wufei. He glared and swatted at her like a little bug.  
  
"Any particular place we're suppose to 'float'?" Shinna asked, after being swatted at.  
  
"Away from my head, woman." Wufei replied. Trio and Duo laughed at the exact same time. Stopping, they looked at each other. Nodding, as if they could read each other's thoughts, Trio flew over next to Duo and placed herself slightly to his left, and hovering over the edge of the table. Deciding to make herself comfortable, she crossed her legs 'Indian style'. Hilde smiled.  
  
"Wherever you're going to float, float there quick." Jerome snapped. "We've got to decide what we're going to do next."  
  
"What's wrong with you!" Trio shouted, pushing her knees down with her hands. "You've been so irritable today!"  
  
"Can't you see why?" Quatre asked, his eyes closed and a smile on his face. Trio blinked a few times at the Arabic pilot.  
  
"No, Quatre, I don't. Why don't you tell me?"  
  
"How long have you known Jerome?"  
  
"All my life."  
  
"And have you always thought of him as your dad?"  
  
"Quatre! Get to the point!"  
  
"You've been his daughter, the only part of his life for 16 years. How do you think he feels after all that's happened in the few hours since you found Heero? He's about to lose the biggest part of his life!"  
  
"Oh," Trio said, lowering her eyes and staring at the table. "I'm sorry, Jerome, I never realized it. My."  
  
"It's okay, I know for the past few hours you've been distracted and before that you didn't even know Duo was your father. But, I've had time to think and the more I thought about losing you, the more irritable I became."  
  
"Look, Jerome, if it'll cause you too much pain to be without your 'daughter' she can stay here for a while." Hilde ventured.  
  
"Yea," Duo added. "Besides, we're trying to buy a new house and she'd just be in the way." He added the last part with a laugh.  
  
"Thanks a lot, Duo." Trio added with a HMP!  
  
"Now, to the order of business. What are we going to do now? It's going to get even harder to hide them now."  
  
"It shouldn't be any harder than usual," Heero voiced. "They'll just have to be banned from their remotes."  
  
"That won't work," Trowa said. "They HAVE to have access to it at all times, considering that they could run into trouble."  
  
"But what if the 'X' catches us with them?" Daemon asked.  
  
"That's the biggest problem," Jerome stated. "Where are these kids going to stay? Daemon cannot stay with you and the Vice Foreign Minister. If he does it could attract the 'X's attention and that could cost him his life."  
  
"Why don't they stay here with us?" Trio asked.  
  
"Because, the addition of 4 kids could get their attention as well."  
  
"Do you have any agents with family near town?" Duo asked.  
  
"Yes, we have quite a few to keep track of local 'X' movement."  
  
"Why don't you have their 'niece' or 'nephew' come to live with them? They could all attend the same school so that they could talk."  
  
"Why would talking be an important part?" Wufei asked.  
  
"Duh!" Sally said. "What if the houses, or at least the phones are bugged?"  
  
"Nothing in this house is bugged." Trio stated in a manner-of-fact tone.  
  
"How do you know that?" Duo asked, looking up at her. She did not look down.  
  
"This house has a tracking system that monitors everything coming in and coming out."  
  
"Why didn't it pick up on the doctors then?" Catherine asked.  
  
"Because," Jerome interjected, "they didn't come IN the house. There's a secret passage and they came through it. Besides, it would only pic up on active machinery. The remotes were immobile when they came in."  
  
"So let's lay the plan down," Heero said. "We'll send the kids to various homes of your TRUSTED agents, where they can attend the same school and keep an eye on each other, correct?"  
  
"That's correct, Heero Yuy."  
  
"Then we have no need here." Heero stood up and grabbed Relena's arm. She was a little unwilling to leave so hastily, considering she hadn't made a speech, but Heero had another wild look about his face and he had the determination to leave as soon as he could.  
  
"Heero," Trowa said, "why the hurry to leave?"  
  
"Leave us alone," was all he muttered.  
  
"I don't think he's liking this situation is he?" Daemon asked with a perturbed look on his face.  
  
"No, I don't think so." Alex and Trey said as Heero, with a worried, frightened look on his face, ran out with a confused Relena. 


	15. The Process to Set Up a New Life

"Heero, stop," Heero had pulled Relena to the door before he stopped. "Heero, what are you doing? Where are you going?"  
  
"Away for now, I can't think."  
  
"Heero, you're acting very strange. What's wrong with you?"  
  
"Look, now that these 'children' are in our lives we're going to have twice as many problems and I would like to deal with these problems on my own."  
  
"But it could be dangerous." Relena argued.  
  
"I know it could be, but I don't work well in teams and I need my time to figure this out."  
  
"What's to figure out?"  
  
"How am I going to deal with this? How much longer must the Gundams live? Why does the 'X' really want them dead? Are there really only 5 G-Alloids alive?"  
  
"Those are pretty deep questions, Heero."  
  
"Yea, I....Hey!" One of the Portuguese men had appeared at one of the multiple doors on the right.  
  
"Yes, Mr. Heero, I am Sandrio, how can I help you?"  
  
"The Vice Foreign Minister and I wish to leave now. We need a ride back to town." Heero had a look on his face like he felt threatened. Sandrio returned Heero's look with a disinterested expression.  
  
"Yes, sir." Handing a set of keys to them he said, "Here are the keys to the white Toyota Camry out front. It is near the beginning of the loop nearest to the dust road. When you get to town, go to the car shop called "Paint Express." Drop it off there as soon as your done."  
  
"What....?" Relena mumbled.  
  
"Mr. Jerome figured that some of you might like to leave early to work on your own. So he had 6 cars ready at your disposal."  
  
"Smart man." Heero said.  
  
"He's had to be, with all he's done to keep Trio and the others safe."  
  
"How much HAS Jerome done to help these kids?" Relena asked.  
  
"His wife died saving these babies. That's all I can tell you."  
  
"His wife gave up her life...for them...?" Heero said quietly.  
  
"She did, but she did it willingly. Trio has grown up to be a fine, intelligent girl. And as far as I can see, the others have turned up fine too."  
  
"We're leaving now, thank Jerome for the car. We'll return it as soon as possible."  
  
"Mr. Heero, I must warn you. Leaving and living in your regular life style and habit may put you in a great deal of danger. The 'X' is completely aware by now that something has happened and they are more than likely aware of your deeper involvement with the G., Project as it is called."  
  
"I'll be keeping a close eye on Relena, you just make sure to tell Jerome to keep a close eye on Daemon. If anything happens to him, I'll come after him first."  
  
"Mr. Daemon will be treated with the same care that Trio herself is being treated with. Don't worry, he'll be fine. If anything happens to him, it will happen to Trio as well, and we both know Jerome won't let ANYTHING happen to her." Heero nodded and started his walk to the white car at the end of the circular driveway.  
  
'Good luck, Heero.' Sandrio said to himself. 'You're going to need it, as is everyone else.' Walking back into the mansion, Sandrio caught sight of his brother Andrio. Andrio was carrying a pitcher of lemonade and a couple bags of Chunky Chocolate Chip cookies on a platter. Balancing the cookies and the tray with the cups on it was difficult.  
  
"Would you like help, Andrio?" Andrio glanced up but in doing so, he lost the bags of cookies. Sandrio picked up the unopened bags and the platter that had dropped noisily on the floor. Andrio smiled his thanks.  
  
"So," Andrio voiced as they made their way back to the meeting. "Who do you think would be fit for the job of caring for these kids?"  
  
"In town? Hm, not Joe, he's too irresponsible. What about Amy?"  
  
"No, too loud. The kids would go deaf."  
  
"Hm, hey, what about Ken?" Sandrio said.  
  
"He's pretty good, let's talk to Jerome about this."  
  
"Right," Andrio replied as they reached the door. Sandrio knocked once and entered. Everyone looked back up at the two men. Trio and Duo visibly perked up at the sight of cookies and lemonade.  
  
"We thought the kids might be hungry," Sandrio said in a loud, but affirmative tone. Jerome nodded. The two put the cups on the end of the table, away from the people and poured the lemonade and opened the cookies. As soon as they were finished and stepped away, Trio came flying and Duo came running, both reaching the cookies at the same time. Trio grabbed the cookies. Duo jumped at grabbed the end of the bag. Trio fell a little under the weight but refused to let go.  
  
"TRIO! DUO!" Jerome shouted. "KNOCK IT OFF!" Both of them looked at him for a moment with big eyes before Trio sat Duo on the ground and he let go.  
  
With no other incidents, the others grabbed their cookies and lemonade. The G-Alloids were allowed to sit down and eat.  
  
"Sir," Andrio said. "We were thinking on the way here about possible candidates for the children to stay with."  
  
"And what did you come up with?"  
  
"You trust your servants with such important tasks?" Wufei asked.  
  
"Yes, as a matter of fact I do," Jerome replied, putting back on his irritated glare.  
  
"So far we've come up with Ken."  
  
"What about Amy?"  
  
"Too loud, sir." Jerome laughed.  
  
"True enough I guess." He went serious again. "I've decided where you'll all stay.  
  
"Daemon, with Ken. Shinna, with Sherri. Trey, with Leo. And Alex with Steven. Does this sound good to you two?"  
  
"Excellent choices, sir."  
  
"Good, get them called. Kids, you're about to set up your new life. Tell NO ONE about your past, then again, you're use to doing that aren't you? You will be attending Rose High School. Finish your meals and Sandrio will get the address of your new family. I would appreciate it if your pilots would drop you off."  
  
"Heero's already gone." Daemon commented.  
  
"Trio, would you?"  
  
"She can DRIVE?!" Daemon asked.  
  
"Duh." Trio replied. Daemon nodded.  
  
"It's a new beginning for you guys." Jerome said, "Make good use of it." 


	16. A New Name:O Namae Wa?

AN: I hope these alias names don't confuse anyone, so here's a list of the aliases: Trio-Diana Kai. Shinna- Tana Suzuki. Trey-Matt Midori.  
  
"So," Shinna said, as she and Trio made their way up the stairs of Rose High School. "Have you been here before?"  
  
"Yep, but only for three weeks. That's when school started anyway."  
  
"What's it like?"  
  
"Like.high school." Trio said sarcastically.  
  
"Duh, Trio. That doesn't help."  
  
"Look, it's just like high school, that's all I can say."  
  
"Do we have any classes together?" Shinna asked, handing Trio her schedule as they stopped near a water fountain to take a look.  
  
"Yep, right before lunch, PE."  
  
"WHAT?! I have PE?!"  
  
"It's a requirement," Trio said, handing Shinna back her schedule. "And we have Chemistry together on the B Day."  
  
"Good. Do you have any other classes with the others?"  
  
"I haven't seen hide nor hair of them. I guess I'll find out." The bell rang. "Look, I gotta get to English, talk to ya later!"  
  
"See ya! OH! What's your name here?"  
  
"My name?"  
  
"Duh."  
  
"It's Diana Kai. What about you?"  
  
"It says I'm Tana Suzuki."  
  
"Okay, bye, Tana."  
  
"Bye, Diana." The two girls separated and ran to their respective classes.  
  
Trio a.k.a. "Diana" ran into the classroom just as the bell rang.  
  
"Almost late again eh, Diana?" Her teacher, Mr. Susano said.  
  
"Hai, Sensei. Sumimasen. I was showing a new student around."  
  
"Really?" He raised his eyebrow and motioned for her to sit down.  
  
""Hai. Honto ni."  
  
"Well, sit down so we can continue class." Mr. Susano started his lecture on the principals of writing when a student walked into the classroom. He stood there for a second before anyone noticed, as the desks were facing away from the door. Finally, Mr. Susano turned around to ask a question and saw the boy.  
  
"May I help you?"  
  
"I'm a new student, sir. I'm sorry I'm interrupting the class, but I wasn't sure I was in the right place."  
  
"I'm Mr. Susano and this is Classroom #5. Is that where you're suppose to be?"  
  
"Yes, sir." The boy replied, looking at his schedule.  
  
"Good, why don't you take a seat next to Ms. Diana Kai." He motioned to Trio. Trio, who hadn't turned around, looked at the boy as he sat to her right. It was Trey. She tried her hardest to control her surprise. He was wearing a black shirt, as they didn't have a dress code, and blue jeans. His white tennis shoes were not visible to most of the class.  
  
"Now, why don't you introduce yourself to the class, seeming how you already got their attention."  
  
Trey stood up. "My name is Matt Midori."  
  
"And where do you come from? Mr. Midori?" Trio saw a slight wave of panic cross 'Matt's face. He looked to Trio. She mouthed 'California' as inconspicuously as she possibly could. He understood.  
  
"California sir."  
  
"Which part?" The Sensei looked at Trey like he didn't believe him before so Trey, who knew a city in California, answered quickly.  
  
"Sacramento, Sensei."  
  
"Good. Well, if you need any help, ask those around you. Now." Mr. Susano started his lecture again. Trey a.k.a. Matt pulled out a piece of paper and began scribbling a note. After a few seconds, he handed it carefully to Trio.  
  
'Trio, thanks a bunch, that was close. I wasn't prepared for that.' Trio scowled at the note.  
  
'I'm Diana remember? Don't blow it, if someone were to find a note passed between us, they could get some pretty important leads.'  
  
'Sorry, but thanks anyway.'  
  
'No prob., Matt.' After Trey read the note, Trio asked for it back, carefully tearing each and every piece. She waited until the teacher had sat down, after giving the assignment, and separated the pieces before dropping the note in the garbage.  
  
"Um, Diana?" Trey (Matt) asked. "What EXACTLY are we suppose to do?"  
  
"Well," Trio pulled out the worksheet they had been given. "Match the vocabulary words and then put them in a sentence."  
  
"That's it?" Matt whispered back.  
  
"Yes, now get to work."  
  
The rest of the class went by without a problem. As they walked out of the classroom to head to their next class, Mr. Susano stopped Trio.  
  
"Diana?"  
  
"Yes, Sensei?"  
  
"Did you know that young man?"  
  
"Why would you ask that Sensei?"  
  
"I saw you mouth something to him."  
  
"Um..."  
  
"It wouldn't have happened to be 'California' was it?"  
  
"Sensei."  
  
"Well?"  
  
"I met him outside. He gets stage fright, sir."  
  
"So how come he said his name without incident?"  
  
"That's the ONLY thing he can say without getting stage fright, Sensei." The Sensei looked into Trio's eyes. She held a straight face as well as a straight expression.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me before hand?"  
  
"Sensei! I'm going to be late!"  
  
"Oh! Sorry, you may leave now." Trio rushed out of the room, thankful that she had managed to pull off her first lie. 


	17. A New Acquaintance

The bell rang just as Trio flew into the health room.  
  
"Phew, I barely made it!" She exclaimed to herself and she searched the room for Shinna.  
  
"You sure did, Ms. Diana," Her teacher, Mrs. Okuda said next to her ear. Trio jumped.  
  
"Okuda-Sensei, you scared me."  
  
"Take a seat, Ms. Diana." Trio nodded and looked around the room, finally sighting Shinna near the middle of the class. The desks in the health room were actually miniature rectangular tables that could seat four people per table.  
  
"What took you so long," Shinna hissed as Trio sat down next to her. "I almost had this bunch of hoodlums that are at the back of the room try to sit next to me!"  
  
"And that's a problem?" Trio whispered as the teacher turned to the white board.  
  
"Duh! First, they're hoodlums! Second, I'm staying away from actual human contact and/or interaction as much as I can."  
  
"You worry too much." Trio added with a laugh.  
  
"So, you're Ms. Interaction?"  
  
"I'm friendly enough, and I'm not known to be cold." Trio and Shinna whispered back and forth while the teacher gave her lecture. Once or twice the teacher turned around to see the two whispering and told them to stop.  
  
About half way through the class, a tall man in a brown suit and a clipboard walked in. Mrs. Okuda didn't notice for a few seconds until the class began giggling and pointing. Mrs. Okuda turned around, very cross for a second until she saw who was interrupting her class.  
  
"Mr. Ken." Mrs. Okuda bowed. Mr. Ken was the assistant principal. "How may I help you?"  
  
"I have a new student to the school who was just arrived. Do you have enough room for him here?"  
  
"Why yes sir, I do."  
  
"Come in Shiro Nanzaki." A beautiful dark-haired boy walked in somewhat shyly. He wore a light blue shirt with dark blue jeans and black shoes. His hair was a little longer than most boys with a stripe or two of an auburn color. He looked into the faces of the children in the classroom without a smile, but not a frown.  
  
"May I introduce," Mr. Ken said with a sweep of his hand to the back of Shiro's upper back, pushing him forward, "Mr. Shiro Nanzaki. He has recently moved here from the Azure Kingdom to the west of this Sanc Kingdom we all live in. Please be nice to him. He has not attended such a large school before. Why don't you find a seat, Shiro?" Shiro nodded politely to Mr. Ken and Mrs. Okuda before looking again at the classroom. He locked eyes with Trio, who felt a strange attraction to the new student. He smiled and she returned the smile. He walked up the aisle next to Trio's right and sat down next to her. Trio smiled again and looked over at Shinna but was met with a scowl.  
  
"What?!" Trio whispered fiercely.  
  
"Ms. Friendly aren't we?"  
  
"Jerome never said we can't make friends."  
  
"I don't trust new exchange students." Was Shinna's reply before turning back to the teacher.  
  
The teacher regarded Shiro for a moment. Nodding to herself she said, "Shiro, this is not only a health class. I know it's a little sudden but you must have PE clothes for every other day in this class. So when we meet on Wednesday, please meet in the gym with PE-type clothes okay?"  
  
"Yes, Sensei," he said in a somewhat quiet voice. He pulled out a notebook and began scribbling in it. Trio returned her attention to the teacher who was pointing out major diseases of the circulatory system.  
  
After a few seconds Trio felt a cold, gentle push against her hand. Looking down, she saw Shiro's notebook with the word "Hi" at the top. Pulling it closer, she began to read the half page note.  
  
"Hi, my name is Shiro Nanzaki, as you know. What's your name?  
  
Trio almost wrote 'Trio Hawk'. Correcting herself, she wrote, "Diana Kai. It's nice to meet you Shiro.if you don't mind me asking, why did you move here?"  
  
"My father. He has an 'important' project and he says he knows where the final pieces of the puzzle are. I don't see why I had to come."  
  
"I'm sorry, Shiro. What can I do to help?"  
  
"Be my friend."  
  
"Deal (!" Shiro chuckled. Shinna, who had been listening very carefully to the teacher, glanced over at Trio with a glare. Trio shrugged.  
  
A few seconds later, the bell rang.  
  
"Now don't forget, Wednesday, meet in the gym with PE clothes. Have a good day class!"  
  
"Bye, Mrs. Okuda," some of the students said. Shinna looked over at Trio and scowled again.  
  
"Would you stop that?" Trio said crossly.  
  
"You're much to friendly."  
  
"Hm," Trio scowled back and walked off. Shiro came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.  
  
"What class do you have next Diana?"  
  
"Um..yea! Geometry! Which is right after lunch."  
  
"Do you mind if I follow you? I'm a little lost."  
  
"Sure."  
  
Shinna aka Tana, grabbed Trio's arm and pulled her through the door.  
  
"Come on DIANA, we're going to be late for lunch." Trio tried get away from Shinna but she would hear nothing of it. Trio turned around and mouthed, 'sorry' to Shiro and he nodded his understanding.  
  
As soon as they were in line, Trio forcefully ripped her arm from Shinna's grip.  
  
"Would you knock it off!"  
  
"No! We've got an identity to protect."  
  
"Then why do I even bother to go to school!" Trio spat, walking outside. Shinna frowned and sighed a regretful sigh.  
  
"It's for your own good, I know it is. I can feel it. That kid's gonna cause problems."  
  
Trio stomped outside, making her way to the apple trees in front of the school. Sitting down on the roots, and looking up at the blue sky and wispy clouds, she thought.  
  
'Why do we even come OUT if we're suppose to always keeping away from people. It's not fair. Why can't I be a full human? Shinna won't even let me TALK to Shiro, much less be his friend. Besides, yes, she can't and won't rule my life. I will talk to him and be friends with him.'  
  
Thinking back a little she thought of what he had wrote, "He has an 'important' project and he says he knows where the final pieces of the puzzle are." Trio shivered. 'I wonder if his dad is part of the "X".'  
  
A hand touched her shoulder and she jumped. When she looked up, her eyes met Shiro's. He smiled.  
  
"I thought you might be hungry," he said, pulling out a carrot. Seeing as you ran out of the cafeteria."  
  
Trio smiled. "Thanks. I'm sorry about Sh.I mean, Tana's behavior. I don't know what got into her."  
  
"It's okay, so long as she stops it."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I want be friends with you. I didn't really appreciate her attitude to me." He sighed. "Look, I'm very frustrated with my dad moving me here, and I'd really like someone to talk to."  
  
"I know, I'll ask her about it."  
  
"Thanks, I just want a friend. Humans are social creatures, we need company. I just don't want her to hate me just cause I'm your friend."  
  
"Me neither." They didn't say much the rest of lunch, just sat, enjoying each other's company.  
  
SHIRO IS IMPORTANT IN THIS FANFIC! DON'T FORGET IT!((((((.. 


	18. Warning Signs

Trio and Shiro walked into the History room after lunch laughing. Shiro had been telling 'Diana' about his dog, Spark. The teacher looked up at the two students. The teacher's name was Mr. Takana. He raised his eyebrows.  
  
"The bell hasn't even rang yet," he commented.  
  
"I hope you don't mind, Sensei, but Shiro's a new student and I was showing him around and the..." the bell rang. Trio laughed. Mr. Takana smiled.  
  
"So, Shiro, where do you come from?"  
  
"The Azure Kingdom, Sensei." Shiro did not see Mr. Takana's expression show. Trio saw Mr. Takana visibly stiffen. His complexion paled for a second and his eyes darkened. He looked up at Trio, she locked eyes with the teacher. He shook his head.  
  
"Ms. Diana? Will you come with me for a second so I may get a book for Shiro?"  
  
"O....okay." Trio got up and walked with Mr. Takana into his office. She glanced back once to see Shiro nodding over his English book list. He looked up and nodded once.  
  
After Trio stepped through the door, Mr. Takana shut it quickly.  
  
"Trio Hawk! What are you doing with that young man?!"  
  
"What do you mean, Ken? He's a new student."  
  
"He's from the Azure Kingdom!" Ken whispered fiercely. "Isn't that enough to convince you to be careful?"  
  
"Ken....I...."  
  
"The Azure Kingdom is the seat of power for the 'X'! If you get TOO friendly with that young man you're going to cause problems!"  
  
"That's what Shinna said too! I know what I'm doing!"  
  
Ken frowned, remembering a question. "Trio, what's Shiro's last name?"  
  
"Why would that matter?" Trio asked grumpily.  
  
"Only the highest 'X' officials live in the Azure Kingdom."  
  
"So you think his family is a high-rise 'X' official?" The bell rang. Trio looked up once and scowled at the clock.  
  
"You'd better get that book, Takana Sensei. Don't want him to suspect do you?"  
  
"Where are they?" Shiro wondered. "Grabbing a book doesn't take THAT long." Shiro began to wonder about 'Diana'. "Something about her is different. I don't know what it is, but I plan to find out. Hm, I wonder, why was Shinna trying to hard to get her away from me? Does she suspect?" The bell rang and a few seconds later, Trio and Takana walked back through the back door as the last of the students filed into the room.  
  
"Hey," Shiro said as she sat back down. Mr. Takana handed Shiro his book. "Thank you, Sensei."  
  
"Welcome, Shiro-kun."  
  
"So, what took you so long?"  
  
"The book was a little hard to get," was all she would offer up. Shiro kept a calm face but on the inside he was frowning. 'What's wrong with her?'  
  
The rest of the school day passed without incident. Daemon and Alex ended up being in Trio's mixed choir class. She sat as close to the guy section as she could and chatted with them periodically through the hour. During the last five minutes of class, the teacher let them talk and the three G- Alloids gathered in a circle at the back of the slanted room away from the other students.  
  
"So? How's your day been?" Daemon asked Trio. Both Daemon and Alex were in happy moods.  
  
"Good, but Ken's suspicious of a guy I met today."  
  
"New student?" Alex asked.  
  
"Yea, he's from the Azure Kingdom." Both boys blinked a few times.  
  
"You sure?" Daemon lowered his voice. The boys were no longing joking. They were dead serious.  
  
Trio nodded. "That's what he said anyway."  
  
"You're not too close to him are you?"  
  
"Daemon," Alex interjected. "Is that really a question you should be asking?"  
  
"Yes, it is. As the leader of the G-Alloids it's my responsibility to make sure the team is safe..."  
  
"Look, it's my responsibility to deal with this problem. Let me. Don't butt in."  
  
"Okay," Alex said. "But don't forget, if he finds out, it's all on your head."  
  
"I understand my responsibility to the team members and to myself and my safety. I'll be careful."  
  
The last bell for the dreaded Monday was over. They were free for the rest of the day. Trio stood up and walked between the two and walked to her locker. Afterwards, she trotted out to the drop-off area. A small blue car pulled up seconds later. The automatic window rolled down. It was Shiro. He smiled a big white smile at her.  
  
"Hey, do you want a ride?"  
  
Trio smiled sadly. "Love to, but can't. My ride will be here soon." Shiro's smiled faded.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Shiro..."  
  
"It's okay," his smiled returned.  
  
"Thanks, I'm sorry. Maybe some other time."  
  
"Hey, can I at least take you to the ice cream shop tomorrow? I'll even pay."  
  
Trio, despite the cold feeling and multiple warnings couldn't help but say, "Yea! That sounds great."  
  
"See you tomorrow, right here."  
  
"Trio nodded, "Okay, see you tomorrow."  
  
After Shiro pulled away, a white, unmarked car pulled up. It was Trio's favorite servant, Andrio.  
  
"Ms. Kai, are you ready to go?"  
  
"Yes, Andrio, thank you very much." Trio sat in the car and buckled up. Andrio pushed the gas pedal gently and followed the curve of the road and started the drive home.  
  
"So, who was that young man you were talking to?"  
  
"A friend."  
  
"I've never seen him before."  
  
"He's new."  
  
"Is something the matter? Those are pretty short, retortive remarks."  
  
"I just had a little bit of a bad day." 


	19. Love Begins to Blossom

Trio had had a hard time convincing Jerome to let her go get ice cream with Shiro because after school, Ken had called and informed Jerome of Trio's new friend and Trio got an ear full when she got home. Jerome hadn't exactly consented, but Trio had informed the twin servants she did not want a ride home until she called. They were unwilling, but she refused to take no as an answer.  
  
Shiro was late, a half-hour late. Everyone had already left and Trio stood wondering where he was. A few tears came to her eyes as she thought he might have stood her up. Finally getting tired of standing, she sat down on the curb.  
  
'He wouldn't stand me up would he?' Trio wondered quietly.  
  
As Trio waited for Shiro to come after school, Shinna walked up. Shinna had joined the track team and the first day meeting had just got over. Trio had hardly spoken to her the whole day. Trio saw here but gave her the cold shoulder.  
  
"Trio? Can we talk?"  
  
"About what? I don't have too much to say to you today." The combination of Shiro not showing up and Shinna's attitude yesterday was gnawing at Trio.  
  
"Look, I admit I was a little brash yesterday but that's no reason to ignore me!"  
  
"I will control my own destiny, my own fate, and no one will tell me differently. Someday we'll be free of the 'X' and after that happens I want to have friends and maybe even a boyfriend."  
  
"Okay, I'm sorry."  
  
Trio turned toward Shinna. "Apology accepted." Both girls smiled.  
  
"Trio, we're just worried is all. We don't want you to fall in love with the enemy. It's not just your life that hangs in the balance ya know."  
  
"Yes, I know. But I feel like this is the right decision."  
  
"Okay," Shinna said, as Shiro's little blue car pulled up. "But, please, I beg of you, don't betray us."  
  
Trio got tears in her eyes. "I promise." She opened the car door and climbed in. She buckled up her seat belt before turning to look at Shiro. He smiled. A man poked his head between the front seats to look at her. She jumped back.  
  
"DAD! Sorry, Diana, this is my dad. Dad, this is Diana Kai." Shiro pulled out of the circle and drove down the road.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Sir."  
  
Mr. Nanzaki scrutinized her from top to bottom before replying, "Nice to meet you too, Ms. Kai."  
  
"My dad needed to go to the store so I went and picked him up. I'm sorry I couldn't call you."  
  
"It's okay."  
  
"No, it's not. You probably thought I stood you up huh?"  
  
"The thought did cross my mind, yes."  
  
"I'll make it up to you."  
  
"Shiro."  
  
"Shiro," his dad finally said, "why don't you go buy her a necklace after ice cream?"  
  
"That's a great idea dad!"  
  
"Drop me off at that Wal-Mart and I'll see you in an hour and half, okay?"  
  
"Thanks." Shiro pulled up to the front of the building. His dad jumped out, and looked into the front seat. Trio could have sworn he was looking at her. Shiro pulled away and drove down the street to the "Ice Cream Stop" and parked. Trio hadn't said a thing in quite a while and Shiro turned to her.  
  
"What's wrong, Diana?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Look, let's go get our ice cream."  
  
Trio forced a smile on her face. "Yeah!" They climbed out of the car and walked into the almost deserted shop. They chose a table near the front and sat down, picking up the menus. A few seconds later, a middle-aged woman came up to them.  
  
"What can I get ye?"  
  
"I'd like a chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream cone, please," Trio said.  
  
"What kind of cone?"  
  
"Um, waffle." She scribbled this down.  
  
"And you, Sir?"  
  
"The same, thank you." The woman wrote this down as she walked off.  
  
"She doesn't seem too happy does she?" Shiro whispered. Trio leaned closer to hear him.  
  
"No, but that's the way life is, sometimes."  
  
"Is that what you think?"  
  
"Sometimes life gives you something you don't want, or makes you unhappy. Maybe her husband left her, or she's just not happy with the wages she gets or her job all together."  
  
"Not very optimistic are you?"  
  
"I don't feel optimistic today, sorry."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I don't know, but the other day I felt just fine."  
  
"Well, let's just forget about that right now and enjoy ourselves." The woman arrived back and had the two HUGE cones in her hands.  
  
"Pay at the counter." She commented as she handed the cones over.  
  
"Thanks a lot for the cone." Trio said as she started to take a lick.  
  
"Diana," Shiro whispered. Trio stopped. Shiro motioned for her to lean closer. He smiled and leaned forward. "What do you see out the window?" Trio turned to look and a small, tentative kiss touched her cheek. She froze. As soon as the lips moved she turned to look at Shiro. He smiled.  
  
"Shiro," she stuttered. A blush crept up her cheeks.  
  
"Look, it's my personal sorry. I promise to never leave you waiting like that again, okay?"  
  
Biting her lip and smiling, she nodded. "I'll hold you to that, Shiro." He laughed.  
  
"Good, now let's eat our." Shiro shivered and looked at the cones. They were touching, and both melting down their hands. They laughed and quickly licked the ice cream off their hands.  
  
After Shiro had paid for the cones, they drove over to a small jewelry shop.  
  
"Pick any necklace you want," he said. Not wanting to be greedy, after ten minutes, Trio settled on a sapphire tear-shaped stone necklace. It was pretty expensive, still, Shiro did not even blink. He took it to the counter with Trio behind him and bought it.  
  
"Here, let me put it on." He stepped behind her. She pulled her braid up and waited until he grabbed her shoulders to turn her around before she let go of her braid.  
  
"It's beautiful on you. It matches your eyes." Staring into her eyes, he pulled her close and kissed her on the lips. At first Trio tried to pull away, but her body refused to move. Giving up, she gave in and kissed him equally back. 


	20. Lies Hurt

"Excuse me," the lady behind the counter said. "But please go do that outside." Shiro pulled away. Trio tried to follow but his arms stopped her. He nodded and gently pushed her out the door.  
  
"Trio, I'm sorry."  
  
"About what?"  
  
"Kissing you, I'm probably going too fast."  
  
"Oh, Shiro, it was wonderful." Pulling out her cell phone she said, "I've got to call my ride."  
  
"Why don't I drop you off?" Trio's brain froze for a second before it began to work frantically.  
  
"I'm staying with a friend right now, but sure. I've still got to call them and let them know I'm coming." She pulled out her phone and dialed in what she hoped to be Ken's number.  
  
"Is Ken there? Ken? Hi, Ken, it's Diana."  
  
"Trio? Why are you calling me?"  
  
"I just thought cause I'm staying with you for a few days, and since you're suppose to be watching me, I'd call and say I'm coming home."  
  
"WHAT?! What're you talking about?"  
  
"Yea, I'm sorry I forgot to call. Shiro's dropping me off in a few."  
  
"Oh, I get it, trying to use me to get out of your little 'date' well it's not gonna work!"  
  
"Daddy will so pleased you're taking such good care of me! I'll make sure to tell him how well you're watching over his little girl." Trio smirked. Ken knew it was his job to keep an eye on Trio while she was unsupervised in town, even at school.  
  
"Fine," he growled. "My address is."  
  
"I know, I know. Just make sure you left the door unlocked."  
  
"You're going to get it, you little back-stabber."  
  
"I know, I'll be home soon."  
  
"Bye."  
  
"Same here, bye." Trio turned back to Shiro. He had a confused look on his face. "Okay, let's go."  
  
"Um, Diana?"  
  
"Yes, Shiro?"  
  
"That was one confusing conversation! What the heck was going on?"  
  
"He wanted to go out for dinner with his wife and he didn't want to take me and he didn't want to leave a door unlocked. I forgot to call him earlier remember? He was mad at me is all, I'll make it up to him."  
  
"Oh, okay. Should we go pick up my dad first?"  
  
"Can we not? I wanna be alone with you right now, no offense."  
  
Shiro smiled. "None taken." They piled into the car and drove to Ken's house. The lights were off and the driveway was empty.  
  
"Thank you, Shiro, for the wonderful time but are you sure the necklace is necessary?"  
  
"It's my dad's way of apologizing. Please accept it."  
  
"I will, but I gotta go, I've got tons of homework I haven't done yet."  
  
"Okay, I'll see you at school tomorrow then?"  
  
"Right, just don't forget your gym clothes."  
  
"Bye, Diana."  
  
"Bye, Shiro." Trio got out quickly, grabbing her backpack from the floor. Trying to keep tears from her eyes, she turned around and waved goodbye. Shiro waved back and waited until Trio had walked inside and closed the door before he drove off to go pick up his dad.  
  
Trio sunk down in front of the door and cried. She felt torn that Shiro was so kind to her and she kept a deep, dark secret from him. He was the son of the enemy; he might even BE the enemy. He'd kissed her, taken her into his confidence and even bought her an expensive necklace. Yet what could she do for him? Lie to him!  
  
She cried for a while longer, and cried herself to sleep.  
  
What felt like only a few moments later, she fell over. She opened her tired, red eyes to see a lamp on, and Ken and Daemon sitting on the couch.  
  
"'Bout time you woke up. Thought you'd sleep all night," Daemon said.  
  
"What time is it?"  
  
"5:00 p.m. Don't you think you should call Andrio or Sandrio and get ride home?" Ken asked. They were watching TV. Both gave her as much of the cold shoulder as they felt she deserved.  
  
"Fine." She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Jerome's house. Andrio answered.  
  
"Jerome Hawk's residence. Andrio speaking, how may I help you?"  
  
"Hi, Andrio, it's me."  
  
"Ms. Trio, it's about time you called home! Jerome's worried sick!"  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm at Ken's house. I fell asleep."  
  
"I'll be there in an hour. Get some of your homework done."  
  
"I will, bye." She hung up and just rested herself against the door.  
  
"Shouldn't you work on your homework?" Daemon asked.  
  
"Not enough light," she snapped. Daemon stood up and turned on an overhead light.  
  
"There."  
  
"Thanks." Trio pulled out her health book and defined the vocabulary words that were the only homework she had. Once she had finished, she stuffed it back in her backpack.  
  
As she got up to go outside, Ken interrupted her brooding thoughts. "So? How was your date?"  
  
"Why do you care?"  
  
"I'm suppose to be watching you remember? That is what you said right?"  
  
"Look, just leave me alone right now, kay?"  
  
Daemon was in front of her before she knew it. He gave her a big hug.  
  
"I'm sorry this hurts so much. Either way, we all know it will be over soon. We'll either stop the 'X' or they'll kill us. But again, either way, you'll be in a happier place." Trio hugged him back fiercely.  
  
"Thank you so much, Daemon."  
  
He pulled away. "But seriously, how was it?"  
  
"It was wonderful. Except his dad."  
  
"What?"  
  
"He was late picking me up, a half hour late. He had to pick up his dad from a friend's house and drop him off at Wal-Mart, but his dad was really creepy. Other than that, it was wonderful."  
  
"I'm glad. Why don't you go get a drink?" Trio nodded and walked into the kitchen, found the cups and got a drink of milk. She took it to the front room and drank her milk and watched TV with the two men. Ken's wife walked in and watched TV with them.  
  
Exactly an hour after she'd called Andrio, he arrived. Trio waved bye and promised to see Ken and Daemon at school the next day.  
  
As she climbed in the little unmarked white car, Andrio said, "Jerome's not happy with you."  
  
"I know and I'm too stressed right now to care."  
  
"He loves you, you know."  
  
"But not even love can stand up to hatred."  
  
"What makes you think that?"  
  
"Let's just say it's personal experience." 


	21. Uncovered Secrets

A month passed without any major incidents. Trio and the others attended school as usual.  
  
Daemon and Trey joined the football team. Alex joined the journalism staff. Shinna joined the debate club and Trio didn't join any extra curricular club at all. The others had questioned her numerous times as to why she didn't join an extra curricular sport or club. She replied that she didn't have time, and that the teams would not benefit her. Daemon had argued that it would teach her how to work as an equal team player, considering she was part of the G-Alloid team. She only rolled her eyes and said she would do just fine without.  
  
The real reason she left her afternoons free was because of Shiro. Their love had only grown since that eventful night he bought her the sapphire tear necklace. They would meet every other day at the ice cream shop and one would pay one day, one would pay the next. Shiro never brought his dad to their 'date' again and Trio for one was glad. 'Love with another person should not have a parent in the middle,' she once thought.  
  
The other days of the week, she was studying in the library at Jerome's mansion. She was learning computer parts and repair and the art of flying especially bats and birds. She studied very hard to help her to understand the machine part of her.  
  
Shinna slowly came to accept Shiro as a friend. All three students would laugh at silly comments in health and they would always be on the same teams in the PE part of the class. Trio was able to sleep easier knowing that her friend was making an effort to make her happy.  
  
One day in that month, Shiro had brought roses for Trio, and in turn he gave Shinna a rose as well. That was the day Shinna started to accept Shiro as a friend.  
  
It was the second week of October, more accurately October 15, that all of their lives were forever altered. The event Daemon had promised Trio over a month before was set in motion. It was a day Trio would revere and loathe for the rest of her life.  
  
This Wednesday started out like any other Wednesday. All of the G-Alloids went to school and made it through the school day without any problems. But while the day went without a problem, Shinna got a call from home. Sally had an accident and was in the hospital. Wufei didn't tell her what went wrong, but he hinted at Sally being up a ways.  
  
So Shinna waited until after school and then she sat underneath a tree, a good distance from the school. The tree actually was in a small forest about ¼ mile from the school. Shinna went this far to cry. This accident had finally pushed her over the edge. She cried harder than she had ever cried, letting out her frustration, fear and any other emotion she could dream of.  
  
It was dark even though it was only 5:00 p.m. Shinna had stopped crying, but she was now doing her homework by the flashlight she always carried in her backpack. She had called Wufei to let him know she was doing her homework, but she didn't tell him where.  
  
Shinna was about to leave, finally deciding she was hungry enough to go home, when Trio arrived. Trio had been looking everywhere for her and had finally found her by the flashlight. They didn't speak for a moment.  
  
"Why are you still here?" Trio asked.  
  
"I'd like to ask you the same question."  
  
"I was doing extra credit in the library."  
  
"What?"  
  
"They had a poetry slam, and as much as I don't like poetry, I went for the extra credit. Then I stayed for a little to watch Shiro's basketball practice. So why are you here?"  
  
"Wufei called and said Sally's in the hospital. She fell."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Can we talk? We haven't talked very much, not girl to girl anyway."  
  
"Sure," Trio sat down.  
  
"Can we call each other by our real names?"  
  
"Why not? No one's around."  
  
"Okay, thanks."  
  
"Shinna, why were you all alone?"  
  
"I let out a lot of emotions. Crying is for the weak. I don't want to be seen as weak."  
  
Trio chuckled. "You sound like Wufei when you say that. Crying isn't for the weak. It's for the whole human race. That's how your body lets out its frustration and stress, is by crying. It's perfectly normal to cry when you're sad."  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"Positive," Trio said with a nod.  
  
"Trio, what's it like to be in love?" The girls heard the bushes nearby rustle and they stood up to take a look. They didn't see anything, but they both got a feeling someone was nearby. Shinna motioned for her to be quiet. They waited for a few minutes until both girls were sure no one was near.  
  
"No one except the Gundam pilots can hold still for that long." Shinna said, as it to comfort Trio when it was really Shinna who needed to be sure.  
  
"Phew," Shiro whispered after the girls started talking again. "That was too close. I know I shouldn't be spying, but I need to find out what's been bugging these two."  
  
"This pressure is getting to me," he could hear Shinna say. "I can't take much more of this. Running and hiding my whole life! I mean, come on, I can't live a normal life! And why can't I live like a NORMAL teenager? Because some people can't give up!"  
  
'Running? From what?' Shiro slowly sat down on the slightly crispy leaves.  
  
"I know, but there's not much we can do. It's run or be killed. Survival of the fittest, right?"  
  
"NOT FOR HUMANS! We're supposed to be the 'civilized' part of the animal kingdom right? Well, then why are we being treated like we're just some game for the 'X' to toy with?!"  
  
'X? That's my dad's organization.how do they know about it? And why does Shinna sound so familiar?'  
  
"Look! There's nothing we can do right now! All we can do is lie low until they give up or find us."  
  
"Trio, aren't you getting tired of running too?"  
  
'Trio, Trio, why does that name sound familiar too?' Realization hit the young man like a semi truck.  
  
Shiro gasped so loud that this time Trio and Shinna heard where it came from and leapt up. The rustle was followed by a couple of loud gasps, like someone was trying to get a breath and the two girls pinpointed the sound. To Trio's utmost surprise, they stumbled upon a shaken up Shiro. 


	22. A Night of Disasters

Shinna scowled. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW you were up to something! Who are you, really?!" Shiro looked up at the two girls, the pain of his knowledge radiating in his eyes. "ANSWER ME!" Shinna lifted up her leg to kick Shiro, but Trio stood in front of him. As Trio turned around, she saw a look of confusion and love cross his face.  
  
"Shiro, answer her question, please."  
  
"My name's always been the same, and for the first time in my life, I'm ashamed of it."  
  
"Why would that be?" Trio asked, squatting down.  
  
"You don't know who Kai Nanzaki is do you?"  
  
"Should I?"  
  
"He's the leader of the 'X' and."  
  
"And your father," Shinna finished off with, venom dripping from every word.  
  
"I regret to tell you that is the truth."  
  
"No, Shiro. It can't be. That can't be. I.I don't think I can believe you, the man I love is the enemy. I.I just can't."  
  
"Diana.I mean, Trio, I've never been so.ashamed of my name before. I'm sorry."  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
"I overheard, not EXACTLY by accident you called her 'Shinna'. And that set my mind rolling. I knew I'd heard that name from somewhere. Then she called you 'Trio' and I hit upon where I'd heard your names before."  
  
~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~  
  
I was working on a big report due in a few days and I went into dad's study to ask him for help.  
  
We lived in a mansion at the time.  
  
I came in and stood in front of him, but he was too busy look over reports, articles, and maps, so he didn't see me. By the time he did, a list of names caught my eye. It had a long list of names, most of which were crossed off. The only ones that weren't were five at the top. They were Trio Hawk, Shinna Ling, Trey Gun, Daemon Zero and Alex Sand.  
  
He saw me then and he covered up the list.  
  
~~~~~END OF FLASHBACK~~~~~  
  
"At the time, those names meant nothing to me. But they do now." His eyes rose and locked on Trio's. "And I swear to you, I won't tell a soul. I.I.I love you, Trio. I would NEVER do anything that would betray you, or Shinna. I'll admit, Shinna, you've never been very nice to me, but, I could never betray either of you."  
  
A bush crackled off to Shiro's left. He saw a little red dot. He realized that while he had been following Trio, someone else had been following him.  
  
"Run!" He whispered fiercely. "What?" Shinna whispered. Shiro looked back and saw the red light settle on Trio. He ran his hand over the ground until he found a pebble. He picked it up and chucked it at the red light. A shot went off into the trees above them, sending branches crashing down.  
  
"RUN!" Shiro screamed again. He pushed the two girls into a dead run. They ran past the tree Shinna had originally sitting at. Shinna swiped up her backpack without stopping.  
  
They ran for what seemed like hours. Finally, Shinna pulled up short underneath a streetlight.  
  
"I.I can't keep running. I'm too tired."  
  
"I think we lost him anyway," Shiro said between gasps.  
  
"Who was that?" Trio gasped.  
  
"One of my dad's lackeys I guess."  
  
"I'm calling Ken." Trio pulled out her cell phone and dialed in the number.  
  
"Hello?" Came the fuzzy reply.  
  
"Ken?"  
  
"Trio, why are you calling?"  
  
"I've got a major problem."  
  
"What do you mean problem? Ack.."  
  
"Trio?!" It was Duo.  
  
"Yea."  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Let's see, to start out, the guy I love is the son of the enemy, one of his dad's lackeys tried to sniper us, um, and we just had a run for our life. Wanna come pick me up?"  
  
"Where are you?"  
  
"Jordan street, across from the school, underneath the streetlight."  
  
"Get out of the light!"  
  
"Fine, but hurry."  
  
"I'll be there in a sec." Duo hung up. Trio, putting up her cell, sighed.  
  
"What did Ken say?"  
  
"He didn't say much, Duo stole the phone."  
  
"Duo? As in Duo Maxwell?"  
  
"As in my birth father, well, blood father. He'll be here in a sec, but he wants us out of the light."  
  
"It's only logical," Shiro commented. "It'll make it easier for them to find us if we stay here."  
  
Reaching an agreement, the three teenagers retreated into the safe, dark forest.  
  
The teens sat there in the dark for only two minutes before a white car came rocketing around the corner. It pulled to a stop on the other side of the street, quite a ways from the trees. It turned off and Duo came running around the front of the car.  
  
"Trio? Where are you?" His face was flooded with worry.  
  
"I'm not that invisible," Trio said, stepping into the light. Duo smiled in relief.  
  
"That's great, I'm glad you're all okay. Now let's get out of here."  
  
"I'm afraid," a man said, stepping into the light. A few men with sniper rifles surrounded him. The others backed up into the shadows. "You can't hide, don't try to run."  
  
"Dad? Is that you?" Shiro stepped forward, barely in the light.  
  
"Shiro? What are you doing here? Oh, yes, I remember. You're the one who led me to Trio. Thank you, son."  
  
"Leave her alone! Leave them all alone!"  
  
Kai Nanzaki shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't do that, son. I've been trying to find her for 16 years. I'm not going to stop now."  
  
"But dad! It's not HER fault she's like this! It's not!"  
  
"I don't care. I can't see them, LIGHTS." A bunch of spotlights hit the group from the air. The light, however, was not enough to blind them. "That's better. Duo Maxwell? Well, well, this'll make things easier."  
  
"LEAVE THEM ALONE!" Shiro screamed at his father.  
  
"I can't. I'm sorry. They all must die." Kai pointed a finger at Duo, "and you'll be the first. Men." One man stepped forward and took aim right at Duo. Kai didn't see Trio reach into her back pocket and push down the 'on/off' button. "FIRE." 


	23. Shiro's Sacrifice

"NO!" Trio screamed. Her wings were out in an instant and in mere milliseconds, she landed in front of Duo. By the time that any of the men could blink, or stop the trigger, a bullet flew out of the barrel and hit Trio in the arm. She deflected it into the cement with deadly accuracy and determination. The cement cracked as the bullet buried itself into the ground.  
  
"Watch it, you fools!" Kai spat, hitting the man upside the head. "Don't hit the girl!"  
  
"What are we suppose to do, Sir?" The man rebuked, "she was standing in the way." Kai turned his attention back to Trio. With her ebony wings fully extended, blocking Duo, Shinna and Shiro, Trio stood her ground with a glare, defiant and prepared.  
  
"We can't kill her. I need to do experiments on both of them." He peered at her, just like the day she first met him. He scrutinized her from head to toe. "I need this little bat. She's the perfect experiment."  
  
Smiling, he said, "Use a tranquilizer gun." A man to his left pulled out a small gun and fired.  
  
Before anyone could act, Shiro had pushed his way past Trio's wings and took the tranquilizer dart right in his upper arm. Screaming in pain, he collapsed in a heap at Trios feet. He gasped a few breaths before falling into a deep, artificial sleep.  
  
Trio almost leaned down to check on him, but she saw a man three to the left of Kai move his gun up. Rage flared into her brain, making her unable to think about anything but the threat. She rose to her full height, as tall, angry and deadly as ever.  
  
"You'll pay for that," she stated with an almost sick determination. "One day soon, you'll for all the pain, suffering and deaths you've caused!"  
  
"I'll do nothing of the sort. Your kind will soon be wiped from the surface of the earth!"  
  
"You do nothing for your son, who lies in an artificial sleep!"  
  
"He lies at your feet. Why don't you help him?" Trio glared at him with a look that could have frozen Adolph Hitler. Kai only shrugged. "No? Well, it is as much your fault as it is his," he said as he spat down at his son. "He shouldn't have tried to help a G-Alloid. If he dies because of the severity of the tranquilizer, it serves him right."  
  
"What do you mean by that?" Trio frowned, "is that a stronger dose than a normal human could handle?"  
  
"Yes, as a matter of fact, it is. It's got enough tranquilizer in that one dart to knock out an African Elephant."  
  
"WHAT?! NO! You'll kill him!" Tears sprung to Trio's eyes, despite her will to keep them down.  
  
"Like I said, it'll be half his fault for trying to protect you..." Kai lead off in surprise. Trio's eyes had begun to glow that eerie glow in the pupil of her eye, but in the white part of her eye, it was blood red with anger. A purple and red aura of power rolled all over her body as she let the rage flow. She had tried to keep calm, but that had failed. Everyone knew a human couldn't handle that much tranquilizer. It had put him to sleep almost instantly and if they did not stop the process, it would slowly put his heart to sleep and it would soon stop beating all together.  
  
"You'll pay," Trio muttered between gasps as the power coursed through her veins. Trio made no effort to stop the blood rage. "I could take all the pain and torture you've made me endure, but Shiro can't!" Screaming with a mixture of rage and sorrow, Trio launched with lightning speed at the man who was the core of the horror she and the other G-Alloids had grown up opposing. No one could have stopped her; not even another G-Alloid.  
  
Trio hit Kai with an impact like a car going 60 mph hitting a cement wall. A rib broke at the impact alone. Trio, who still was still in motion shoved Kai into the ground, and he cried out. After a few seconds in pain, he looked up at the girl he had been searching for. Her eyes were still filled with the eerie green and red light. If the situation had not have been so serious, Kai would have laughed at the color of Trio's Christmas-like eyes. But he knew any false move would get him killed.  
  
"Shoot her!" Kai managed to shout. By the time the man had the tranquilizer gun pointed at Trio, she had jumped up and pushed Kai up on his knees. She grabbed his hair and bent his head back, leaving his throat exposed. Then she willed into existence a small scythe and pushed it against his throat.  
  
Leaning close to Kai's ear, Trio whispered, "I should kill you, I should kill you right now." Kai could hear the strain of Trio trying to control herself in her voice.  
  
"Why don't you?" Kai muttered between gasps.  
  
"I don't know if Shiro would approve. I don't want him to be angry, besides, you'll try to get us again, and next time for you, there won't be another next time after that." Leaning away from his ear, in a clear voice, Trio said, "Duo, Shinna, get Shiro to the car. He needs medical help."  
  
"Okay," Shinna replied. Trio kept a close eye and close hands on Kai, but he was in no position to move. While these wounds were light, Trio doubted he'd ever suffered such a severe blow before.  
  
Shinna pushed her hands under Shiro's arms. Duo reached up and yanked the dart from his arm and chucking it into the forest before reaching his hands around Shiro' knees. The two lugged Shiro across the street while Trio kept a close eye on the lackeys and Kai. He looked up at her once, but the brightness of her eyes made him soon look away. No one said a word.  
  
"Trio!" Duo shouted a minute or two later, "Come on!"  
  
"I don't dare turn my backs on these cowards!" She shouted in reply.  
  
Trio felt a surge of a familiar power and an acknowledgement in her brain of another strong power nearby. "I've got you covered!" Shinna said.  
  
"Don't move until we get around that corner," Trio said, moving her hand with the scythe in it and pointing it down the street. "If you move, and I'll be watching, I'll come back and finish you off properly. Understand?" The lackeys nodded. They had long put their guns up except the man with the dart gun. He still held the point at Trio, waiting for her to make a mistake.  
  
Trio scowled at Kai again, the eerie lights still in her eyes, and pushed him hard into the ground at her feet. Kai let out a small groan. She backed up slowly, still keeping a close eye on the men.  
  
It felt like an eternity until Trio finally saw Shinna and her triton out of the corner of her eye. Trio glanced into the back seat of the car. Shiro's head was on the right side of the seat. Trio growled and put her wings 'up' and opened the door, lifted up Shiro's head, and made her lap Shiro's pillow. Duo had already climbed in the car and Shinna was inching her way around the back end of the car. Trio was oblivious to everything except the boy who had risked his life for a not-quite-human girl. She pushed his hair one way, then the other as the car rocketed around the corner.  
  
"Trio," Shinna whispered. Trio looked up; the lights in her eyes were gone, it was now replaced with a river of tears. "Oh, Trio."  
  
"You warned me, Shinna, *sniffle* you warned me not to get involved. And what did I do? I fell in love with the son of the enemy, who risked his life for me. He's gonna die! FOR ME! That stupid fool! I'm not worth it!" Breaking down, Trio leaned over Shiro's face crying her heart out.  
  
Shiro's eyes were closed in an artificial, yet peaceful sleep. He might not make it, and everyone knew it. If Shiro had not blocked the dart, however, Trio wouldn't have gone into a blood rage and they might not have made it out of that harrowing experience alive.  
  
Everyone stayed silent as Duo drove as fast as he dared to the nearest military base. 


	24. A Simple Prayer

The doctor walked into the waiting room where Trio, Duo, Shinna and the newly arrived Jerome waited. All the faces were grim with worry. The doctor was an elderly man wearing a white doctor's attire with white hair. This only further proved the doctor was a seasoned veteran.  
  
"Are you the family of Shiro?" He asked.  
  
"No, but we are his friends, the ones who brought him in."  
  
"And who is going to pay for his treatment if I may ask?"  
  
Trio stood up trembling and said as calmly as she could, "Is he going to be okay? I don't care about the money, is he okay?"  
  
The doctor turned to regard Trio. "A lover eh?" Trio's lower lip quivered in reply. "Well, he should survive," everyone visibly relaxed, "but, I'd like to know how he got so much tranquilizer in his system."  
  
"As a military doctor, you know that some things are secret," Duo stated.  
  
"Fine," the doctor surrendered with his hands up. "But I was just curious. It's my job."  
  
"Understood."  
  
"Can I see Shiro now?" Trio interrupted.  
  
"Room 3, young lady," he said, motioning down the hall to his left, her right. Trio nodded her thanks and ran down the hall with most of the crew following. Jerome stayed behind.  
  
"How is he, seriously?" Jerome turned to the grizzled war veteran of the hospital.  
  
"He's in a coma at the moment. We got a lot of the fluid out of his system, but there was still a significant amount left.  
  
"Jerome," the name-less doctor said, "is that kid a friend of yours?"  
  
"No, actually, he's the son of the enemy. The DIRECT enemy."  
  
"You mean Nanzaki himself?"  
  
"Marcus, I've never lied to you before and I won't now. Yes, he's Kai's son. He fell in love with Trio and he risked his life to save her."  
  
"You've got to be kidding! The son of the core threat saved HER?"  
  
"They met at school and slowly over the last month he's fallen in love with her."  
  
"How could you let that happen, Jerome?" Dr. Marcus frowned and continued, "I thought your job was to make sure things like this didn't happen!"  
  
"I tried, Marcus, I really did, but not even Shinna could keep those two apart. And from what Shinna said, he just grew on her. Besides, not even Trio could have avoided or deflected that special dart."  
  
"What kind of dart WAS that anyway?"  
  
Jerome pulled out the dart that had hit Shiro, out of his pocket. "Duo pretended to throw this into the forest when they dragged Shiro to the car." Jerome dropped it in Marcus's hand, "and as you can see, it's not ordinary dart."  
  
The dart was as thick as an average man's index and pointer finger put together. The plastic that held the whole dart together was a special black plastic that made it impossible to see and was weather resistant. The needle measured to be a whole inch long and connected to a vile that could hold enough tranquilizer fluid to knock out a bull African Elephant cold in less than an hour.  
  
"I just can't believe he would use such a severe dart. I mean, they may be part machine but if you inject this much into ANY human it'll kill them. Jerome," Marcus said, turning his tone even more serious than it already was, and added, "Shiro could never wake up from this."  
  
"I know, but I think I figured out why he used such a dangerous dart.  
  
"I think he used this because he figured that since the second it came in contact with the skin, some of it would get into her skin, then into her blood, giving it a chance to take affect. If it sunk all the way in, like it did with Shiro, they planned to quickly pull it out so all of it didn't get into her system. But Shiro fouled the plan up, he got in the way. That boy just saved us all."  
  
? ? ?  
  
Trio ran down the hall as fast as her legs would carry her, passing other doctors, patients, family of patients and nurses, tears running down her worried face. She did not heed anyone, nearly running over a dozen people in her single-minded quest to find Room 3, to find the man she loved, the man who had fought his own father to save her.  
  
A million thoughts were burning through her brain like wildfire. 'What if Shiro doesn't survive? What if we get caught? What if.what if there's more of us out there? Shiro.why? Why did you have to fall in love with the enemy?' A million 'What ifs' hammered her brain until she looked up at a room number, and saw it was Room 3. That thought immediately banished the barrage of questions into a small corner of her mind.  
  
Trio stopped and touched the door, afraid of what was on the other side, afraid he had just passed away, despite the doctor's assurance he was okay. Duo and Shinna, both out of breath, finally caught up with Trio. Neither said a word to Trio as she stood at the door.  
  
"I'm going in," Trio said, to no one in particular.  
  
Duo's voice jarred her out of her dark thoughts; "We'll wait for a few minutes." Trio looked back at Duo, tears came back up to her eyes.  
  
"Thank you so much."  
  
"I'm your father, right? It's my job to help you in troubled times."  
  
Trio smiled in reply, and with a nod cracked the door open and slipped in.  
  
Inside the room were a single bed, small bathroom, sink, and a dozen machines. Only two of the machines, the drip and heart rate machines were actually hooked up to Shiro.  
  
Shiro.his brown hair scattered all over his face. She couldn't see his beautiful blue eyes. Trio jumped inside herself. She never realized she knew the color of his eyes. She recalled every time she'd looked into his eyes, but she was always too involved to take mental note of the color. She smiled at the memories that washed over her.  
  
Trio walked over to her unconscious lover and tenderly touched his hair, moving it out of his eyes. She stood there for a few moments before a tear fell onto his cheek; Shiro winced. Trio yanked her hand back in surprise and stood still until his face relaxed again, breathing a sigh of relief.  
  
The door cracked open as Shinna pushed her way into the room. Duo, Jerome and the doctor stood outside, glimpsing into the room, none daring to interrupt the two girls.  
  
"You okay?" Shinna whispered, putting her hand on Trio's shoulder. Trio reached up and put her hand on Shinna's. Almost a whole minute passed before Trio could bring herself to take her eyes off Shiro. Turning around, Trio saw tears in Shinna's eyes. The girls' emotions were mirror reflections of each other, love, pain and fear. They both smiled simultaneously.  
  
"I'll be fine as soon as he's fine."  
  
"Your necklace," Shinna stated, quite out of the blue. "I just noticed, your necklace, it's beautiful, a blue teardrop. Did Shiro buy it for you?"  
  
"An apology from his father," Trio lifted up the necklace and looked at the blue stone. "But as much as I hate his father, I could never get rid of it, because Shiro bought it for me. I think of it as a symbol of our love, or at least I used to.  
  
"Now that you reminded me of it, now I'll think of it as a tear cried, for the two lovers, separated because of their lineage, like Romeo and Juliet. But it's more, so much more. It's a symbol of pain, and even though the pain hurts, it will never separate us.  
  
"Someday, it will be much more than a tear of pain and sorrow, it will be a tear of joy."  
  
"C.can it take the place of an engagement ring, for now?" Shiro sputtered. Trio dropped the necklace and whirled around. Shiro, as incoherent as he was, was sitting up a little, smiling that smile that was always for her and her alone. He swayed and blinked multiple times, but never took his eyes from her. Tears sprang to Trio's eyes again accompanied by a sad, joyful smile. Trio walked back over to Shiro's head.  
  
"You stupid fool, you stupid, stupid fool. You almost got yourself killed for me. Why? Why did you do that?"  
  
Shiro winced, but forced his smile back on his face. "Can't very well have my fiancée dying on me can I?"  
  
Trio stood there for a moment in shock before smiling a healthy, wide smile. "What about me? What if my fiancée dies?"  
  
Shiro frowned, but continued, as his eyes drooped and he had to rest his head against the pillow, "Never did think about that. I only thought of you."  
  
"You stupid fool," Trio whispered again, leaning down, taking Shiro's head in her hands and gently kissing his soft lips. Shiro's hand reached up behind Trio' head, pulling her in. They shared a passionate kiss that neither wanted to stop. The kiss was the most passionate thing Trio had ever encountered and she could barely hold in the overwhelming emotions that threatened to break up that kiss.  
  
Moments later, Shiro's hand dropped with a THUNK! onto the bed. Trio pulled back a little, to see Shiro's eyelids, droop over his azure blue eyes and his smile fade away. Gently putting his head back onto the pillow she walked out the door, clasping the teardrop stone in her hand. 


	25. Eye of the Storm

The hall was deserted.  
  
The three men looked up at her.  
  
"Is he okay?" Duo asked with a worried look on his usually perky face.  
  
Trio let out a small laugh; "He's okay enough to propose to me if that's what you mean."  
  
Jerome's eyes went wide, as did Duo's and Marcus's. "You serious? He woke up? And proposed?" Jerome shook his head; "He's a lot stronger than any of us anticipated."  
  
"Yea, a little too strong," Shinna mumbled then pulled her lips in.  
  
"What do you mean?" Trio asked, turning to her friend with a frown. "What does that mean?"  
  
"I.I meant, don't you think it's just a LITTLE suspicious that he could have survived such a long overdose? I do, I mean, I'm glad he survived, but it just doesn't feel right to me."  
  
Trio started to object, but Dr. Marcus interrupted, "I thought that same thing as well. But his x-rays come back normal and all his vitals are normal as well. Do you suspect something?"  
  
"I do," Shinna replied.  
  
"It's getting late," Jerome said, "and you two still have school tomorrow. Let's get you two home."  
  
"If you don't mind," Duo said, "I'd like to take Trio over to Ken's and talk to him. I'll call China-man and tell him to pick Shinna up there."  
  
"But how's Trio suppose to get home?"  
  
"She should stay with me tonight," Shinna voiced. "I mean, we've been through a lot tonight, besides, I get to walk to school and it gets lonely. Let her spend the night on a school night, just once?" Shinna put on a puppy face and turned it head long onto Jerome. He blinked multiple times before letting out a hearty laugh.  
  
"Don't ask me, ask Wufei."  
  
"Where's a cell phone?!" Shinna ran around the group of men until Duo brought out his cell phone. That reminded Trio she had lost hers and had lost her backpack. Trio groaned, and with her homework.  
  
"What's wrong?" Marcus asked.  
  
"I dropped my backpack and cell phone in the park. I can't go to school without my backpack."  
  
Shinna, who was talking to Wufei, let out a yelp, "That's right! We dropped them!" Shinna wailed, "WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!"  
  
"WOMAN?!" Wufei screamed into the phone, "PAY ATTENTION!"  
  
"Wha?" Shinna said, returning her attention back to the cell phone. "Sorry, so.can she?"  
  
Wufei let out a frustrating sigh, "What time is it?"  
  
"7:00 p.m.," Shinna said, "Why?"  
  
"I'll expect you two home by 8 at the latest."  
  
"Um, Duo wanted to speak with you about that," Shinna shoved the phone into Duo's waiting hands. While the girls jumped around in excitement, Duo talked to Wufei. Trio jumped around with Shinna until it started to hurt, and turned back to Room 3.  
  
"We'll take good care of him," Dr. Marcus assured her, "We'll even make sure his dad doesn't find him."  
  
"I'm going to go say goodbye," she said. She walked back into the room without waiting for a response.  
  
Shiro was lying in the same position Trio had left him. Trio walked over to the bed and leaned down, giving him a quick kiss on the lips.  
  
"Good night, my love. Sleep well."  
  
'Sweet dreams, my love,' a voice in her head said. Trio jerked back and bumped into the machines. The drip jiggled a little, but did not fall and Trio breathed a sigh of relief. Trio looked back at Shiro. He lay with no expression, no sign he was alive, besides the rise and fall of his chest.  
  
"What was that?" Trio whispered to herself. Shuddering, she turned and walked outside. Shinna was the only one waiting.  
  
"What took ya so long?" She said, with a smirk.  
  
Trio smirked back, "Haven't you ever heard of a good night kiss?"  
  
Shinna rolled her eyes, "You two are disgusting. What's with all the kissing?"  
  
"I'll have to tell you later," Trio replied, with a now serious expression. Shinna frowned, but shrugged that she understood.  
  
Both girls walked back down the hall and out into the parking lot, where they found Duo waiting. Wordlessly, they climbed into the white car. On the back seat, Shinna noticed a small pool of blood, where the dart had hit him. She sat on the passenger side of the seat to avoid sitting on the blood. Trio sat in front and Duo drove.  
  
The trip to Ken's house was almost silent.  
  
"Shinna," Trio said, halfway through the trip, "I thought you were staying with Sherri."  
  
"I am, but like Duo, Wufei's here for a visit and they, being him and Sally were staying with Sherri."  
  
"Oh, I see," Trio's voice had a kind of finality to it, and the conversation ended there.  
  
As the car passed the school, Duo pulled over.  
  
"Go get your stuff. If you can't find your cell phone, have Shinna call it." The two G-Alloids nodded and scrambled out of the car. Trio ran past the streetlight with Shinna right on her heels. Neither could believe that just two and a half-hours ago, they had been fighting for their lives and Shiro had nearly lost his under that lighted piece of pavement.  
  
Once Trio and Shinna reached the tree, they began feeling the ground. Shinna saw a light on the tree and giggled. Trio looked over and even though Shinna couldn't see her face she knew Trio was confused.  
  
"The flashlight's still on," she laughed, pointing over at the tree. Trio, who could barely see Shinna as it was, looked over and saw the light at the base of the tree and chuckled. Shinna walked over and lifted up the flashlight. They soon found their backpacks, untouched.  
  
"Trio, we should change shirts really soon ya know," Shinna commented as Trio leaned over and picked up her backpack. Trio took off toward the car. Shinna wondered why she didn't reply.  
  
Once they reached the light, Trio stopped. Shinna, winded, leaned over her knees.  
  
"Call my phone, it should be here somewhere," she said without waiting for Shinna to get a breather. Shinna looked at Trio helplessly, but she took out her cell and hit the speed dial. A clear ring rang through the air; it came from Trio's pants. Both girls laughed.  
  
"Of all the nerve," Trio chuckled. "So," she continued, "Why did you say we should change shirts soon?"  
  
"Well," Shinna stuttered as they reached the car, "we were running through a hospital with the back of our shirts ripped." Trio blushed and with what little light there was Shinna saw and laughed. Trio, a little shy at first, started to laugh too.  
  
Climbing into the car laughing, Duo drove them over to Ken's house to wait for Wufei. But no one suspected that the calm moment wouldn't last, never suspected it was the eye of the storm, that it would be torn apart by Wufei, an ally, that he would be a typical male and say the wrong thing at the wrong time. 


	26. Wrong Place, Wrong Time, Wrong Circumsta...

AN: I read this on a column done by Skyrocket called 'Tsunami'. I thought she had a point, and with her permission I am putting a clip of her recent article here for all of you to read. If you have any comments, email her at infinite_tsunami@yahoo.com  
  
"Over the years, on mailing lists, chat lines and message boards I have seen "Jap" used as a short for Japan or the Japanese language or people. Everyone, please listen to me when I tell you that you should *NEVER* use "Jap" to refer to those things. Why? Because "Jap" was a derogatory term for the Japanese coined by servicemen during the Second World War. Since then it has become an ethnic slur used to insult the Japanese or people of Japanese descent. To be blunt, it is highly akin to using "the N word". Now I want to make it clear that I'm not trying to ride people's cases or shove a bunch of PC stuff down your throat. It just *really* bothers me when I see anime fans unknowingly using a word that was created to deride all things Japanese when they're talking about Japanese things they like. My advice is to just write out the word "Japanese" if you're talking about the people or the language. The internationally recognized abbreviation for Japan is JP. I respectfully ask that everyone reading this try to use the examples above in their future adventures in anime fandom. Hopefully it will prevent any misunderstanding as to your intent when you are referring to anything Japanese."  
  
Anyway, on with the story.  
  
Duo pulled into the driveway and parked. Wufei hadn't arrived yet. All three climbed out and waited patiently as Ken stumbled to the door and yanked it open.  
  
"I don't buy cookies," he mumbled. The laughter that the three emitted jogged Ken awake.  
  
"Duo? Trio? Shinna? What're ya doing here so late?"  
  
"Late? It's 7:14," Trio replied.  
  
"Really?" He said, poking his head back inside to look at his clock. "Hmm, Guess it is. I must've been sleeping. Come in," he said, moving aside. Trio walked in, followed by Duo and Shinna.  
  
The room was dark as usual, with the only light coming from the TV. Daemon was watching 'Russian Roulette' again and looked up long enough to acknowledge the guests before turning back to the TV. Trio looked around the room, but decided to go outside to get some fresh air. After all that had happened today, being in a crowded room didn't sound appealing.  
  
"I'm going outside," Trio said, lifelessly. Duo nodded his acknowledgement as he sat down to watch the TV. Shinna followed Trio outside.  
  
Outside there was a hammock in the barely lighted backyard. Trio walked over to it and sat down gingerly. Her partially exposed back felt really warm up against the cold cloth. Shinna sat down at the opposite end, but they both slide inward. Bumping against each other despite trying to stay on opposite ends made Trio laugh, then silence filled the void.  
  
The two girls sat in the silence looking at the beautiful stars and the occasional glint of sunlight off the window of a colony. The stars glittered like tears and seemed to Shinna to be trying to comfort Trio, but to no avail. Shinna was glad she didn't feel like Trio did, glad she didn't have a boy she cared about. 'Then again,' she thought, 'Trey IS kinda cute.no! Stop thinking that! That's just wrong!'  
  
A car's brakes squealed out on the street and car lights hit the right side of the fence.  
  
Shinna stood up, sending Trio flying into the middle of the hammock. "It's Wufei. Only Wufei slams on his brakes like that.  
  
"This is ridiculous!" Wufei's voice broke through the warm night air. "What the hell's going on?"  
  
"I don't know," Sally said.  
  
"I still say you should have stayed in the hospital one more night."  
  
"And I say I'm fine."  
  
Shinna started to speak, but Wufei's angry voice beat her to it. "You want to know what I'm thinking? I'm thinking these G-Alloids are more trouble than they're worth." Shinna's eyes opened wide in shock.  
  
"Wufei, what a horrible thing to say! How can you say that?"  
  
"Easy, don't you see? It's all that Trio's fault! If she had kept away like everyone told her, Kai wouldn't have found us! And now he's breathing down ALL of our necks! Trio has willingly put a dozen's peoples lives in the direct line of fire! Her weakness could very well bring down EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US! And that so-called 'daughter' of ours, Shinna, isn't helping!"  
  
"That's enough, Wufei."  
  
"I don't think so, Woman! It's about time I was allowed to speak my mind! I despise the weak and girls are the weakest of all! And in all inevitability, I despise those abominations called the G-Alloids, Shinna the most! She's so much trouble! She was weak and allowed that relationship between Trio and Shiro to grow and now where are we? If she had done her job like she was suppose to, this NEVER would have happened.  
  
"And all for what? Love? Love's never worth that much! I just can't believe she put OUR lives at risk for her selfish ambitions! Those two girls have put all of us at risk and we can't fight back! I'd almost be grateful if Kai would get rid of all five of them."  
  
A slap rang out and the fence rattled as Wufei slumped down to the ground at the unexpected hit.  
  
"She's still our daughter! I will not tolerate this kind of talk!"  
  
Trio, with tears in her eyes, stood up and walked to Shinna's side. She turned to look at Shinna. Tears were running down Shinna's cheeks freely. She appeared to not have heard Sally speak in her defense. Trio could tell Shinna was holding in an unexpected emotion and she reached out for her. Screaming 'NO!' Shinna launched herself into the air.  
  
"SHINNA! NO! COME BACK!" Trio willed her ebony bat wings to emerge and shot after Shinna with as much speed as she could muster, leaving the two startled people in shock, but she couldn't quite catch Shinna. They flew over the high school with speeds topping 70 mph.  
  
During Trio's pressing flight, a few times she felt a drop of water hit her face. The first time it hit her face, she looked up, but could only see stars. By the third time, a droplet landed next to her mouth and she stuck her tongue out. It was salty.tears. Trio tried again to reach Shinna, but she couldn't fly fast enough and Trio soon began to wear out. She had never flown this fast or this long and it was taking a toll on her body.  
  
Trio couldn't catch up and she was getting tired so she tried her last resort.  
  
'Shinna!' Trio screamed in her head, hoping that Deathscythe would pass the message via the communication line. 'Stop! I can't take it anymore!' Trio looked up to see Shinna's wings flip up and she stopped almost immediately. Trio squeaked and flipped hers up as well. Once Trio stopped, she looked up to see Shinna a half inch from her face.  
  
"You really out to learn to pay attention when you tell someone to stop," she said with a smirk. A tear or two still rolled down her cheeks.  
  
"Well," Trio spat out between gasps, "if you'd slow down a little I wouldn't have to resort to mental commands!"  
  
Shinna wiped her smirk off her face. "I'm sorry I ran off like that."  
  
"More like flew off. But I don't blame you. He said a few things about me that were uncalled for, but true."  
  
Shinna was shaking, "I'm not going back to that EVIL man! Hey," Shinna stopped moving and looked up at Trio with the light of an idea shinning in her eyes. "Why don't we run away? I mean, it would leave everybody else safe and I won't have to see his face again!"  
  
"I." Trio stopped from saying 'yes' and thought about it. If they ran away she couldn't see Jerome, Duo, Hilde, Andrio, Sandrio and.Shiro. But she had to admit, the stress was getting at her and she personally didn't want to go to school. The stress of having the 'X' breathing down her neck and the night's incidents didn't make her want to remain in her present standings.  
  
"I'll go with you."  
  
"Great! Maybe the others want to come! Why don't you call them?"  
  
Trio shook her head. "Not Daemon. Wufei and Sally have probably gone inside already and have told the others of our flight. You call Alex and I'll call Trey."  
  
"All right." Shinna pulled out her cell phone, which she had shoved in her pocket and clicked a few buttons. The phone rang a few times before Alex picked up the phone.  
  
"Hello? Smith residence."  
  
"Alex? It's me."  
  
"Shinna? Hey, haven't heard from you in a long time, what's going on?"  
  
"Trio and I are running away. We wanted to know if you want to come."  
  
"WHAT? What brought this about?"  
  
"A combination of Wufei, Kai and a hospital or two."  
  
Alex wasn't particularly stressed or pressured and Steven cared very much for him. The caring thought reminded him of Quatre and how much Quatre cared about him. His thoughts spread to thinking how many other people would care if he left.  
  
"I'm sorry, I can't go. People would miss me too much."  
  
"Okay." Disappointment was heavy in Shinna's voice. "But don't tell anyone for a couple hours we called, okay?"  
  
"Only if they don't ask. If they do, I'm going to tell them."  
  
"I understand, good night, Alex. I hope we'll meet again some day."  
  
"As do I, good night, Shinna, and good luck." Shinna heard a click as Alex hung up. 


	27. Bitter Betrayal

Shinna sighed, "Alex said he couldn't come. Did Trey?"  
  
"It's ringing, Trey?" Trio looked over at Shinna, who waited with anticipation. "Hey, Trey. It's me, Trio."  
  
"Hey, Trio. What's up?"  
  
"Um, we've got a little bit of a problem."  
  
"Yea, I know, Duo called here looking for ya. What's going on?"  
  
"Shinna and I are running away."  
  
"What? Why?"  
  
"Wufei, Kai, poor Shiro, the tension and stress of the 'X' is getting at us. And we overheard Wufei loosing a gasket and saying he hates me and Shinna and we've decided we need to get away, maybe the 'X' will follow us and leave the others alone."  
  
"Did you say Shinna was going?"  
  
Trio blinked, surprised by the question. "It was HER idea, so.duh."  
  
"How rude!" Trey laughed. "So, when are you leaving?"  
  
"We need to grab some shirts, blankets, food, money."  
  
"Okay, okay, I get it," Trey laughed again.  
  
"SO?" Shinna said, grabbing the phone away from Trio, who had a surprised look on her face. "Are you coming?"  
  
"Why should I?"  
  
Shinna scowled, "Fine, you could've just said no."  
  
"I didn't say I wasn't, but I didn't say I was. I asked a question."  
  
"Hmm, let's think about this." Shinna put up two fingers on her left hand, which was unoccupied, "Two teenage girls all alone in the world." Shinna put both fingers down, "No boys to protect them if they get into trouble." Shinna put back up one finger, "And a boy sitting at home, who's the two girls' last chance at protection."  
  
Trey laughed, "Let me talk to Trio." Shinna rolled her eyes and handed Trio back her cell phone.  
  
"Does she always make such a strong case?"  
  
"I don't know. Are you interested in coming? Or are we wasting our time?"  
  
"What was it you said you needed?"  
  
"Trey, if you're not coming, we've gotta go get our stuff together. Is it a yes or no?"  
  
"Answer me first, what might you need?"  
  
"TREY! I don't have time for your games!"  
  
'They're trying to get me to stall,' Trey said in her mind.  
  
"How? Why?"  
  
'They're trying to trace your phone so they can find you.'  
  
"They are, are they?"  
  
"Yes," Trey said aloud.  
  
'Are you coming?'  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Good, bye." Trio hung up quickly. 'Did they get it?'  
  
'No, they missed it, by one second.'  
  
Trio sighed, 'Good. Get your stuff together and meet us at IceCreamy in an hour, if you can't make that, we'll wait until sunrise, but no later.'  
  
'I'll be there soon. They want me to call you back, and tell you to call me back.'  
  
'No more games, be there ASAP.' Trio broke the connection.  
  
"What the HECK was going on?" Shinna 'barked' at Trio.  
  
Trio rubbed her ear; "OW.We had a little bit of a problem. They were trying to trace us."  
  
"They being."  
  
"I'm guessing Jerome called Leo and told him if we called to trace us.he almost had us."  
  
"So? So? SO? Is he coming?"  
  
"Yea, we need to meet him at the IceCreamy shop in an hour."  
  
"Well, let's get going!"  
  
'Trio?' Trey's voice popped in her head again. 'I just wanted to tell you something.'  
  
'What?'  
  
'Tell Shinna, wait, don't tell Shinna,' Both of the G-Alloids felt a spark but it had no apparent reason for happening. Trey continued, 'I'm only going to protect her. I mean, I'm going to protect you both but the real reason I'm going is so I can be with Shinna and comfort her and protect her.'  
  
'How sweet, I understand. See ya.'  
  
'Bye.' This time Trey broke off the contact.  
  
Shinna and Trio set off, flying to Sherri's house. They flew in silence, witnessing the ground from above for the first time. They avoided crowded streets and flew up high to lower the chances of being spotted. Trio knew she would not be able to fly long if someone saw them and they had to fly fast to make an escape.  
  
"So," Shinna finally spoke, breaking the pleasant silence as they carefully and quietly landed in Sherri's backyard. "Do you think Trey really likes me?"  
  
Trio blinked, "Where did you get THAT idea?"  
  
"From your conversation with him after you hung up. You forgot to protect the channel, I just listened is all." Shinna smirked at her brilliant idea.  
  
"YOU LITTLE BAKA!" Trio whispered. "So it WAS you. That little spark gave you away."  
  
Shinna's smile fell. "So the conversation was staged?"  
  
It was Trio's turn to smile; "I never said that."  
  
Shinna lifted off the ground up to the second story window and pushed it open. Grabbing onto the sides of the window, she retracted her wings and slipped in. Trio did the same.  
  
After the girls got into the room Trio closed the window. The light came on, blinding the two girls.  
  
"Where did you think you were going?" Wufei, Duo, Ken and Jerome were sitting on Shinna's bed.  
  
"Where's Daemon?" Shinna asked. She knew that if she had to fight her way out, Daemon could stop her, but she wasn't sure if they knew it.  
  
"With Trey. We know you called him and he didn't say no," Ken informed her with a smirk. "And we had the phone bugged without Trey's knowledge and we actually DID get a location on your phone.  
  
"What?! How could you do that?! Jerome?" Trio looked to the man she called 'Dad'.  
  
"I'm sorry, Trio, but we had to do it, you're too valuable to us."  
  
"Valuable?! Am I just a possession of yours?!" Trio ran at Jerome but Duo stepped in front of him. Trio leached to a halt.  
  
"I haven't forgotten the Gundam Rules," Duo said grimly.  
  
"We left Daemon with Trey because you can't hurt each other and we brought Duo and Wufei because you can't hurt your pilot or another's pilot," Ken informed her.  
  
"Damn you, Ken," Trio cursed.  
  
"Yea? It was your fathers, Jerome and Duo that let me know of the rules."  
  
"Why don't you just leave us alone?!" Trio shrieked.  
  
"Can't do that kid," Duo replied. It seemed like he was sad to say what he had to say. "Don't make me say it." Duo expected Trio to know what he was talking about, and she did. If he commanded her, she had to do what he told her.  
  
"Duo, please, just leave me alone, let me sort out everything." Trio laid both of her hands palm up and she stepped closer to Duo. Duo stepped forward quickly and slapped the top of her hands, (which were facing the floor.)  
  
"You've forfeited those rights now, Trio." Duo, with a grim frown on his face grabbed her wrists. Trio gasped and tried to pull her wrists free, but Duo held tight. "Don't fight, Trio. Trio, TRIO! SLEEP!" Trio's eyes went wide and her eyelids sunk down as she slid to the floor, Duo still holding her wrists. 


	28. Shinna's Struggle, Gundam Pilot Determin...

AN: Thanks to all my readers.  
  
"DUO!" Shinna screamed. "What do you think you're doing?"  
  
"The same thing that I'm going to do to you," Wufei said; but before Wufei could announce the command, Shinna had reached into the back of her pocket, flipped the cover, and had pushed the 'on/off' button. Her wings shot down into the green, scaly wing tattoos on her back. Shinna was now defenseless if Wufei tried to grab her, but she had denied him the right to command her.  
  
"Trying to keep away from us?" Jerome asked, a smirk imminent on his face. "What ya gonna do now? You can't fly away, can't use your weapons, how do you think you can possibly escape?"  
  
"So this was all a trick was it? Pretending to care about us?!"  
  
"That's not the case, Shinna," Duo said, a tear sliding down his cheek. "I love Trio very much, but she IS my daughter and I am looking out for her welfare."  
  
"You're all jailers! You're keeping us locked up!"  
  
"If you do what you're not suppose to, yes, we're your jailers," Ken added.  
  
Shinna put her arms up in a defensive position. "You want me? Come and get me!"  
  
Ken frowned, "You can't attack Wufei OR Duo, right?"  
  
"Wrong," Shinna replied with a smirk, "The Gundam Rules only apply when the Gundam part of us is activated. Right now, it's not." Wufei pulled his body into an attack position. "And I'm ready to take you on, Dad."  
  
"That's the worst mistake you'll ever make. I'll take you down, I don't care if you are my child, or a woman. Get ready. Here I come!" Wufei screamed and launched himself at Shinna. Shinna, smirked and waited until he was almost on top of her before dodging to the side. Ken leaped at her, trying to grab her. She shoved her elbow into his face. As Ken fell, he hit the back of his head against the wall, knocking him unconscious. Shinna paid him no attention as he fell or after he hit the wall. She returned her attention to Wufei, who was launching another aerial attack.  
  
Shinna started to launch a low ground attack when she saw Jerome jump toward her. Scowling, she pushed against the ground harder, putting her behind Wufei before he could act. Shinna flipped around and shoved Wufei into Jerome, knocking Jerome senseless, but awake.  
  
"Don't think I'll be that easy," Wufei said, rubbing his forehead. "I've beat stronger opponents than you."  
  
"I don't plan on beating you," Shinna replied, reaching into a drawer, pulling out a knife. "If you try to capture me, I'll kill you."  
  
Duo gasped, "Shinna?! Stop it! You . . . you can't! Don't do it! Please, stop!" He reached for her arm but she transferred the knife, cutting a shallow cut on Duo's arm. He yanked his arm back and immediately began to apply pressure.  
  
"I can't kill you, Duo. But I can make it hurt. Don't get in my way." Turning back to Wufei, she set her face with the same scowl Wufei wore. "This is just like before. I'm fighting for my freedom. I'll fight EVERY one of you, and I'll win. I will ALWAYS win against my oppression!"  
  
Shinna flipped the handle around, making the knifepoint away from her. She stood for a moment, but Wufei seemed unwilling to attack. Nodding, Shinna flung herself at Wufei. He seemed not to see her until the knife was plunging toward his arm. He jumped and pushed off the wall, landing behind Shinna, who hadn't turned around. He wrapped his arms around hers, pinning her. He hoped she had the knife turned, trusting her to, and kicked her legs out from under her, and him as well.  
  
Both of them fell, hitting the ground beside Ken, who lay beneath Jerome. Shinna twisted, but could not get Wufei to loosen his grip.  
  
"Let me go, you PIG!" Shinna screamed. The door cracked open as someone stepped in. Neither Wufei nor Shinna looked up but continued the struggle.  
  
"What's going on?" Sherri asked. "Shinna? Wufei?" Sherri looked at Trio, unconscious with her black wings carefully spread out on the floor. "Trio? What's wrong?"  
  
"They're trying to run away," Duo informed her.  
  
"NEVER! Shinna!" Sherri looked down to see Shinna finally managing to get the knife handle up, pointing toward Wufei's soft belly. Sherri screamed. "Stop it! Shinna, NO!"  
  
Wufei did not realize until it was too late why Shinna had been struggling so hard, did not realize why Sherri had screamed, until the cold metal plunged into his side. Blood began running down the wound that was 4 inches from the edge of his stomach. Grimacing, he refused to let go. Shinna realized this and pushed it farther than she had originally planned. Wufei gasped and screamed as he let go.  
  
Shinna jumped up and looked at Sherri. Sherri backed away. "Call an ambulance. He needs help. GO!" Sherri fled from the room. Shinna looked down at Wufei, who was laying on the floor, his blood seeping into the carpet. Shinna scowled and ripped off her shirt, or what was left of it, and threw it at his face.  
  
"You'd better stop that blood," Shinna commented as she walked around him, opened her closet, grabbed a dozen shirts, picked up an enormous bag, and stuffed the shirts into it. She reached up into the closet and grabbed socks, underwear and a few pairs of pants, which she stuffed into the bag. Sherri walked back into the room.  
  
"I need money, Sherri. Quick." Sherri nodded, running back out of the room, carefully stepping over Ken and Jerome. Jerome had finally just given up staying awake and had fallen unconscious. Shinna walked between the fallen men and reached her bed, stuffing blankets and two pillows into the nearly filled bag. Sherri had returned by then, a large sandwich bag filled with dollars and quite a few silver coins.  
  
"This is all I have right now, Shinna. The ambulance is on the way."  
  
"Fine." Shinna grabbed the money and stuffed it into the bag, along with the knife, which was wrapped in a pillow sheet. Finishing with her menial chores, Shinna turned to Duo, who had pulled Trio under the window and out of danger.  
  
"Wake her up," Shinna commanded.  
  
"No," Duo replied, shaking his head. "You're not taking my daughter."  
  
"She wanted to go," Shinna shrugged. "I'll take her from you if necessary."  
  
"You said you wouldn't hurt me," Duo retorted.  
  
"I said I wouldn't KILL you. There's a difference. Wake her up or I'll do the same thing to you that I did to Wufei."  
  
"I'm not afraid of dying."  
  
"But what will the other ex-Gundam pilots think? What will Trio think? Oh, more important, what will Hilde do alone?" Duo weighed the thought of his wife being alone to just letting Trio go. He did not think of Trio as a nuisance like Wufei thought, but rather, the child that he never had. It did not help that she looked identical to him. He looked down at the girl sleeping, by his command. She had one eye scrunched, like she was in pain.  
  
"Fine," Duo consented. "But I'm placing her in your hands. If she gets hurt or captured, you'll be responsible for seeing she gets back to us, alive." Duo leaned down close to Trio's face. "Wake up."  
  
Trio's eyes flickered a few times before cracking open. When she finally got her eyes to focus, she saw Jerome and Ken, one on top of the other, unconscious. Looking again, she saw Wufei lying on the ground, pushing a shirt against his side. Trio finally comprehended the red liquid seeping through the shirt was blood.  
  
"What, what happened?" She mumbled, rubbing her eyes.  
  
"Say good bye to Duo, and put up those wings. We're leaving, now." Trio sat up, consciously put up her wings and looked at Duo. A tear glistened in his eye.  
  
"Trio, please don't go."  
  
Smiling sadly, Trio shook her head and replied, "I'm sorry, Duo, but we think it's best. Take good care of everyone and make sure NOTHING happens to Shiro." A siren reached Trio's sensitive ears. "We've gotta go. Bye, Dad." Trio kissed Duo's cheek and stood up, following Shinna out the door. Sherri reached for Shinna, but her hand was knocked back.  
  
"Make sure Wufei lives, okay? I may not like him that much but I don't want him to die." Sherri ran over to Wufei and helped to try and stop the blood, which was nearly stopped as it was.  
  
Duo buried his face in his hands. 'Those kids are going to get themselves killed if they're not careful. Good luck, daughter.' The thought of calling her daughter triggered something in Duo's mind. Trio had called him 'Dad'. She had never done that before. She had acknowledged him as her father.  
  
Smiling, he ran down the stairs and to the front door, which stood ajar.  
  
"BE CAREFUL, DAUGHTER!" He screamed at the sky. Trio, who was almost a small speck, turned around and waved at him. He waved back before turning to motion the paramedics into the house. 


	29. A Flashback, The First Clue

MAJOR FLASHBACK!!  
  
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  
  
"Okay everyone, it's time to start the track part of this class. We will be running and jogging for the next two weeks."  
  
"Aw, man," Diana mumbled. "I hate running."  
  
"We've got an advantage now remember?" Tana whispered.  
  
"We're not using it, though," Diana argued.  
  
"What are you guys talking about?" Shiro asked.  
  
"Stay out of it," Tana retorted.  
  
"Okay, now I want you to start jogging around the track. You can stop as often as you want, but you must get in at least 30 laps by the end of class." The class groaned. "By the way, be careful under the cherry tree. Its branch has been threatening to fall off for a while but those darn officials don't want to waste money removing it and are too lazy to do otherwise. GO!"  
  
Everyone started running around the track. Shiro ran with Diana. He thought she was cute, and he knew there was something special about her. The way her beautiful brown braid flung itself out behind her as she ran was heart touching. Shinna ran ahead of the two, who were exchanging little glances during the run. Shinna hated how they looked at each other. Maybe she was jealous, but then again, all the kissing they did it was just GROSS!  
  
Shiro and Diana trotted around the track with only little glances being their communication.  
  
"Diana?" Shiro finally said.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"Can we go on another date?"  
  
"Only if I get to pick the place and I get to drive."  
  
"Deal," Shiro said with a laugh. Diana joined him in his laugh.  
  
It was their 10th lap.  
  
* * * *  
  
A little bird had been flying a long time. She was tired and decided to take a break. She saw many humans running around a circle.  
  
'Humans are silly,' the bird thought. 'Why don't they use their wings? Oh, I forgot, they don't have any.'  
  
The bird sat down on a low hanging branch. It moved. She flew off as a human, followed closely by another began to pass under the moving branch.  
  
* * * *  
  
Shiro and Diana were about to pass under the cherry tree, both were laughing, Shinna, who was only a little bit ahead, heard a crack. Turning around, she saw a bird fly away, and the branch was falling, right on top of Diana.  
  
"WATCH OUT!" She screamed, but it was too late. The branch crashed right on top of her back. A cry rang out from Diana as well as the other students. Shiro had missed the branch by only a few inches. He had fallen slightly behind. He began tugging at the branch but it wouldn't budge.  
  
"DIANA! NO! DIANA! ARE YOU OKAY?"  
  
"No," was the muffled reply. "I just had a cherry branch fall on my back, I'm just fine."  
  
"This is no time for a joke! Your back may be broke!"  
  
Diana's feet wiggled a little from where they jutted out from under the tiny branches.  
  
"Nope, just fine."  
  
"What's going on?" A male voice rang out from a little distance away. Diana could hear him panting as he arrived. "What's happened?"  
  
"The tree branch you didn't bother to remove just fell on Diana Kai!"  
  
"What?! That's not possible. The man peered closer but could not see her. "I cannot see her."  
  
"Come to the other side, stupid," a voice said, coming from the huge collection of branches.  
  
"Who are you calling stupid?" The principal commented as he walked around. When he reached the other side he saw a head in the mass of wood and leaves.  
  
"The invisible girl also known as Diana Kai," Diana retorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm.  
  
"OH!" He cried out. "This is not good! EVERYONE! Get over here and help!" Everyone began trying to push the branches, however, they were all pushing the branches toward her head. Diana cried out.  
  
"Stop it!" Shiro shouted. He had been trying to rip of the smaller, more numerous branches. "You're pushing the wrong way!" All of the students and faculty reversed direction and began pulling instead. Shiro, along with Tana waited until they saw her fingers and grabbed her arms, pulling one way while the class pulled the other way.  
  
As Diana immerged, Shiro got a glimpse of a black thing on Diana's back. But before he could see it clearly, Tana had wrapped her arms around her back and helped her up. He tried to get under Diana's arm to help support her, but Tana shoved him away. With a glare unlike one he had ever seen, Tana, with Diana walked uncontested into the girl's locker room. He watched them walk away.  
  
Shiro had seen a look of fear and anger on Tana's face and was baffled at why she would give that look to him.  
  
Neither Diana nor Tana would talk about the black marks on Diana's back.  
  
It was the first clue that she was the thing his father had been looking for, but he couldn't have realized it then, could not have known those black marks were actually her beautiful black bat wings.  
  
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  
  
'Where am I?' Shiro thought, opening his eyes and looking around. He saw a sink, a door leading to a bathroom and a mirror in front of him. To his left he saw a single chair and to his right he saw a drip machine and heart monitor.  
  
"I remember," he said quietly. "I saved my father's enemy, my love from certain death and torture. But why? Why? Why did she have to be my father's enemy?"  
  
"I see you've waken up," a man in a white outfit said, walking in. Shiro just stared at the man. "I'm Dr. Marcus. I'm a friend of Jerome's. You're at the Neros military base."  
  
"Have you seen Diana?" Marcus stared at Shiro in confusion. That's when Shiro remembered, her name wasn't Diana, it was Trio Hawk. "I mean Trio. Have you seen her? Is she okay?"  
  
Dr. Marcus smiled, "Do you remember waking up."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"You proposed to her."  
  
Shiro smiled. "No, I'm afraid I don't remember, but it's okay. I'm glad I proposed. It'll help keep her happy."  
  
A small phone rang next to the bed. Dr. Marcus picked it up.  
  
"Hello? Yes this is Dr. Marcus. Yes, he's here, he's fine and awake." Dr. Marcus listened for a second without any emotion showing on his face. But a few seconds later, a look of worry and terror was evident on his face. "You sure? Okay, okay. Bye."  
  
"What's wrong?" Shiro asked with a frown.  
  
"Do you really want to know?"  
  
"Um, sure."  
  
"Trio and Shinna ran away." Shiro gasped. He couldn't believe it. "Duo's got a cut on his arm and Wufei has a stab wound. They're both on their way here.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Duo and Wufei tried to contain the two, but Shinna hurt Wufei and accidentally scratched Duo. Both should be fine, but the girls are gone." 


	30. The Wait

"WAH!" Shinna cried out, searching through her bag. "I TOTALLY did not get enough shirts and blankets! And I didn't even grab any food!"  
  
Trio, who was sitting up against the building with her eyes closed and arms crossed, said, "How much money did we get from Sherri?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
Trio stood up and put out her hand, "Let me count."  
  
Shinna shook her head. "It's too dark to see."  
  
"There's a light over there," Trio argued, "I'll go count and I'll be right back."  
  
"Fine." Shinna finally consented. "But don't come crying to me if something happens to you."  
  
"I know you'll save me," Trio retorted with smirk. She walked along the side of the building, sat down on the outskirts of the light and began pulling out the bills.  
  
Shinna kept muttering to herself, "Didn't get enough survival stuff. Wish I had more time. Blasted Wufei, got what was coming to him." At the thought of Wufei, Shinna stopped ranting.  
  
'Did Wufei really deserve that?'  
  
'Of course he did! He should've kept out of my way!'  
  
'But he was acting like a father, trying to keep you from doing something stupid.'  
  
'Nataku!?'  
  
'Yes?'  
  
'Shut up. I don't need your opinion!'  
  
'Only on one condition.'  
  
'And that would be?'  
  
'Call and see if he's alive.'  
  
'Of course he's alive! He IS a Gundam pilot after all.'  
  
'But his own daughter stabbed him in the belly with a knife. He may die from a mental wound.'  
  
'What are you talking about?'  
  
'Think about it,' Shinna was suddenly in a dark place, with the Gundam Nataku her own size, sitting next to her. 'Why was Wufei so worried about Sally falling?'  
  
Shinna thought she knew, but didn't quite know. 'How should I know?'  
  
'Sally's pregnant of course! So why would he care about you?'  
  
'Why indeed.'  
  
'Would you stop that?'  
  
'Fine.'  
  
'Personally, I think he cares because you're.well.his daughter.'  
  
'Then why does he hate me?'  
  
'You're as much his daughter as you are not. Haven't you ever had an internal conflict?'  
  
'Yea, lots.'  
  
'Was it hard to chose between the two?'  
  
'Always is.'  
  
'So maybe that's why he tried to stop you. Because he doesn't know if he loves you or hates you, and I think that that stabbing didn't really help your case any.'  
  
'So? I don't care about him!'  
  
'Would you like it to weigh on your conscience for a while? What if he dies? Is that something you want?'  
  
Shinna suddenly felt tears in her eyes. Nataku was right. She had taken advantage of his feelings and had injured him. He MIGHT die, and if he did, it would be all her fault. Even when she wasn't in her Gundam mode she felt a connection to him. She was so much like him, even in his stubbornness.  
  
'Fine. I'll call and make sure he's okay.'  
  
'Okay.' Shinna suddenly found herself back in her own body, looking at Trio sitting on the ground counting the money she had gotten, no, stolen from Sherri. She'd have to pay her back, big time someday.  
  
"Trio? Are you done?"  
  
"Yea," was the reply as she stood up. Trio brushed herself off and walked out of the light into her element, the dark.  
  
"How much?"  
  
"Two hundred-eight."  
  
"Wow, she must have had to work hard to get that much."  
  
"Having second thoughts? " Trio asked, eyebrow raised in concern.  
  
"Nataku convinced me Wufei might have actually been concerned about me when he tried to restrain us and I'm thinking of calling to see if he's okay."  
  
"Here," Trio said, handing Shinna her cell phone. "Look up Ken's cell, but be quick." Shinna nodded gratefully.  
  
Pushing one button, the cell lit up and made it easier for Shinna to find the buttons. Once she found Ken's cell phone number, she pressed 'send'.  
  
"Hello? Ken here." Shinna could hear a lot of voices in the background.  
  
"Ken? It's Shinna. Is Wufei okay."  
  
"How can you ask that?!" Ken exploded. "You stabbed the guy for crying out loud!" The background noise disappeared.  
  
"And I'm sorry I did, but I want to know if he's okay."  
  
"Why don't you ask him yourself." Ken shoved the phone into Wufei's limp hands. He looked at the phone for a second, daring to believe it was actually Shinna. He'd expected her to never speak to him again after the night's incidents, much less call to see if he was okay.  
  
"This is Wufei."  
  
"Hi, um, Wufei. I'm sorry, I can't you 'Dad' yet, it doesn't seem right at the moment. Well, what I mean is.um.uh."  
  
"Get to the point."  
  
"I had a conversation with an old friend of yours. He convinced me I should actually care about you. We're both trying to decide if we can accept each other, and I understand how hard it is. Well, what I'm really calling to say is I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I stabbed you, but I need some time to sort everything out without interference. Please forgive me and please understand." 


	31. Decisions, Decisions

"Forests are usually the best place to sort things out," Wufei couldn't help but say.  
  
Shinna's contained laughter rang out from the other side of the phone. "Could be, but I'm not properly equipped to survive in the forest."  
  
"Shinna," Wufei could hear Trio say, "We've got to go."  
  
"Okay, fine, just a second. I've got to go, Wufei."  
  
"Okay, you be careful. Whether I accept you or not, you're still my daughter and I'm obliged to look out for you."  
  
"Bye." Shinna hung up.  
  
Turning to give Trio back her phone, Shinna saw something out of the corner of her eye. Shoving the phone into Trio's hand she flipped back toward the object she saw. It popped out from around a corner not far off.  
  
Setting up in a defensive position, Shinna called out, "Who's there?"  
  
"Trio? Shinna?" The girls heard Trey call out.  
  
"Over here," Trio called out.  
  
Trey was sweating when he reached the girls. Shinna noticed he had a drop or two of blood on his shirt.  
  
"Where'd ya get the blood from?" Shinna asked, concerned.  
  
"Um," Trey lowered his head. "Daemon. He arrived and said it was his duty to make sure I didn't leave. I tried to convince him otherwise, but he wouldn't listen. So we fought, and since we can't fight as G-Alloids, we fought normal, and when the phone rang, he got distracted and I hit him on the head with a book. It cut his head.  
  
"I can't believe I did that!" Trey cried out, crouching down on his ankles. "I hit him! I knocked him out! This is crazy! We're not suppose to hurt our allies."  
  
"I cut Duo and stabbed Wufei," Shinna whispered. "So I think I'm worse off."  
  
"You did WHAT?!"  
  
"Look, we've got to leave, now."  
  
Trey shook his head, "This is crazy, but we haven't got any option now."  
  
"Why do ya say that?" Trio asked.  
  
"You think they're just going to ACCEPT us back after what we did?" Trey nearly screamed at the girls.  
  
Trio's left eyebrow went up. "Trey, breath."  
  
"Yea, easy for you to say," Trey mumbled.  
  
"Yea, it is," Trio retorted. "So why don't you just stop feeling sorry for yourself and get flyin?" Trio's wings burst out of her already torn shirt and she lifted off, blowing Trey against the wall and Shinna against the cement. With a glare, Trey lifted off too and floated beside her. Shinna was still stuffing shirts back into the bag.  
  
"Would you two stop that?!" Shinna squawked as she dived after a shirt. "Not only are you sending our shirts flying, but someone might see you!"  
  
"We'll be up in the clouds," Trio said, flying out of Shinna's immediate sight. Trey, however, landed and pushed his wings behind his back, making them as inconspicuous as he possibly could. Shinna finished her re-packing and willed her wings to immerge from her still torn shirt. Trey waited patiently until she had reached the lower clouds before taking off after her. Shinna couldn't help but wonder why he was looking at her the way he was.  
  
"So." Trio popped up next to Shinna, right out of the clouds. Shinna screamed.  
  
"Would you NOT do that, please?" Shinna fumed. "You scared me!"  
  
"Shouldn't be so jumpy," Trio stated flatly.  
  
"You should be more considerate," Trey interjected.  
  
"SHUT UP!" Both girls said at once. Trey blinked at turned away.  
  
"Look," Shinna said, "where EXACTLY are we suppose to go? I mean, it's not like we can go very far, with our limited money source and all."  
  
"Well, I thought a little about this. The way I see it, the 'X' will be looking for us right? Might it not be easier to go to space?"  
  
"WHAT?!" Shinna squawked again. "If we go up THERE we'll be cornered. At least on Earth we have lots of places to hide."  
  
"Yea," Trio argued, "but don't you think they have agents? We don't know who they are or WHERE they are. I think we should go to the colonies."  
  
"Hmm, maybe you're right. But then comes the choice, which one?"  
  
"I think we should go to L3 or L1."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Duo's from L2, Trowa's from L4 and Wufei's from L5. I was thinking it might be a good idea to go to one of the colonies our pilot is from."  
  
"What makes you think they won't think that too?"  
  
"I know, I know, but think about it." Trio put up a finger. "They may think about that, but they also have to think that we might go to our pilot's colony, or might not even consider that. As many choices as we have, they have even more. But," Trio put her hand in a fist and ran it into the palm of her right hand, "they have to be right, the first time. We've got unlimited choices."  
  
"You're right!" Shinna cried, jumping a little into the air. "So," she replied to herself, calming down, "which one?"  
  
"Personally I'd chose L3. Even if we DID have to run, if we were on L1, we'd have to pass L2 to get there and shuttles have to refuel which gives THEM more chances to get on board. With L3, we can go to L2 or L4 and even L5 and L1."  
  
"All right," Shinna nodded. "We're going to L3. But.where's the nearest shuttle to L3?"  
  
"Greece," Trey spoke up. "The closest is Athens, Greece."  
  
"Then that's our destination," Trio smirked. "Good old home of the Olympics!"  
  
"You sure that Athens is the home of the Olympics?" Trey asked skeptically.  
  
Trio shrugged," Dunno. OF WE GO!" Trio took off flying.  
  
"TRIO!" Trey called out. Trio stopped and turned around.  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
"GREECE," Trey pointed the opposite way that Trio was going, "IS THAT WAY!"  
  
"Oh," Trio mumbled as she flew back slowly to the two G-Alloids.  
  
"Trey," Shinna asked, "What did you bring?"  
  
"A little bit of dried food and $400."  
  
"How did you get that much?"  
  
Trey shrugged, "It was in Leo's chest. It was his JIC money."  
  
"JIC?"  
  
"Just In Case."  
  
"Let's get going," Trio muttered.  
  
"'Kay," Trey said, flying to the west, into the gray clouds of the night. 


	32. Up High, Down Low

"I'm tired!" Shinna shouted, but since she was behind the two a little, they could not hear her. No one had spoken after Trio had started off in the right direction. Shinna couldn't help but laugh. She had a horrible sense of direction.  
  
All three G-Alloids understood what they had taken upon themselves. Shinna almost began to regret ever suggesting to run away, but knew she couldn't turn back now, wasn't even sure the remaining two G-Alloids would accept them as equals anymore. After all, Trey HAD knocked Daemon out.  
  
"I'm tired!" Shinna screamed again, but she got the same results.  
  
And she WAS really tired. When she had flew off in her temper tantrum she'd topped 70 mph at least, and now, at approximately 50 mph, for the 5 or 6 hours they had been flying was wearing Shinna down. Trio, however, showed no sign of exhaustion; then again, Trio had gotten about 10 minutes of artificial sleep.  
  
Suddenly Shinna remembered of the communication line Nataku and Deathscythe used.  
  
'GUYS!' Shinna screamed, but this time inside her mind, 'I'M TIRED!'  
  
Trio jerked to a halt and Shinna ran into her.  
  
"OW!" Trio shouted in the Nataku G-Alloids' ear. "DON'T SCREAM! WE'RE NOT DEAF YA KNOW!"  
  
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, but I yelled a dozen times and you guys didn't hear me."  
  
"Well, you could have tried that first," Trey mumbled, flying back the difference of the two startled G-Alloids' stopping points.  
  
"I said I'm sorry okay? I'm really tired, and we've been flying for HOURS!"  
  
"Only 7," Trey retorted.  
  
"ONLY 7 he says," Shinna mocked. "Can't we stop NOW?"  
  
"Fine," Trio butted in, "but we have to find a non-populated area."  
  
"Done," Shinna said, pushing her slick wings together and going into a nose dive.  
  
"SHINNA! BE CAREFUL!" Trio screamed, dropping her own wings and trying to stay upright. But the wind started to bite at her wings and rip at her clothing and it hurt, so she was forced to go into a nosedive. Trio closed her eyes as she fell.  
  
'Trio, if you don't open you'll eyes, you'll splat the ground,' Trey said calmly. Trio's eyes flung open. The ground was only twenty feet away. Trio's mind went berserk.  
  
'Stop, Trio! You can do it!' Deathscythe told her. Trio nodded and opened her wings. She jerked herself up short, only a foot from the ground.  
  
"You've really gotta learn to keep your eyes open when you go into a nosedive," Shinna commented with a smirk, her left hand on her hip.  
  
"Shut up," Trio muttered under her breath as Trey landed beside her. His backpack, which he had strapped to the front of his chest, was falling off his arm. He caught it as it fell on to the ground.  
  
"Nice catch!" Shinna said with a smile, seeing as she had landed first and with the least amount of problems she was happy.  
  
The G-Alloids had landed in an open field of grain. The air was thick with dust.  
  
"Maybe we should put our wings up since we are on the ground?" Trey pointed out.  
  
"Right," Trio jumped; eager to make the others forget about her little incident. Trio's black wings slowly pushed toward each other and shrunk, until all that remained of her wings were the black tattoos, which were her wings, and the tattered shirt. Shinna and Trey followed suit.  
  
"Should we change shirts? I mean, our shirts ARE pretty dirty and well, 'holy'," Shinna asked.  
  
"Why not?" Trio ripped off her shirt. Her bra was in no better condition as it slipped to the ground. Trey blushed and turned away.  
  
"I didn't want to see that," he muttered.  
  
"Well? It wasn't my fault. Shinna, did you bring an extra I could borrow?"  
  
"Yea, it's a sport's bra so it should fit." Shinna tossed over a medium sized sports bra. Trio quickly turned around, dropped her shirt and slipped on the bra. It fit perfectly.  
  
"Here's a shirt by the way," Shinna added, tossing Trio a black shirt. Trio slipped it on.  
  
"Y'know how much you look like Duo wearing all black?" Trey asked as Trio turned back around.  
  
"No," Trio replied, "but my braid is a disaster! I've gotta redo it before we go."  
  
"Me too," Shinna said.  
  
"But you only have shoulder length hair, and mine is a meter long, you barely even have to COMB it, much less brush it!"  
  
Shinna gave a silly giggle, "I guess that's one of the advantages of having Wufei as a father."  
  
"I need to find a brush," Trio muttered, looking up at the sky.  
  
"Here," Trey said, throwing a brush right at Trio's head. Trio, who wasn't paying attention, got hit in the head. The brush landed in her hands, which had been raising in defense.  
  
"Thanks. Now all we need to know is where we are."  
  
"All I know is you're in my field," a voice said, coming from Trio's immediate left. A gun poked out of the grain. "And I wanna know what you're doing in here, who you are, and why the heck you kids are such a mess."  
  
"Ehehehe," Trio laughed nervously, "could you move that a little? I'm not exactly comfortable with a gun next to my head."  
  
"I want all of you kids to pack up your stuff quick and go that way," he lifted his gun, pointing behind him, "nice and slow." 


	33. A Stop Outside of Ankara, Turkey

"Calm down, Mister," Shinna said, putting her hands face up in the air. "We're not here to cause trouble."  
  
"Go that way," he said again, gesturing behind him, "or I'll pull the trigger. I don't want to do that." Shinna leaned down slowly and picked up her bag, Trey followed suit.  
  
"What EXACTLY are you?" Trio asked.  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
"I mean, um, uh, ethnicity?"  
  
"Turkish. Now go!" The tanned Turkish man was dressed in blue coveralls with a light blue shirt underneath and leather, working boots. Trio followed then Shinna and Trey took up the rear nearest to the strange man.  
  
The four people trekked through the tall wheat until Trio caught sight of a small house. It had one window next to the door. In the doorway, stood a plumb, dark skinned brunette. She held a butcher knife in her hand.  
  
"Aba, who are they?"  
  
"I don't know, Mista, but they say they're not here to cause trouble."  
  
"Who are you?" The woman, Mista, said.  
  
'Adopted names?' Trio asked the other two, tilting her head toward the right.  
  
'Yes,' was the unanimous reply.  
  
"Diana Kai," Trio replied, returning her gaze to the confused woman.  
  
"Tana Suzuki," Shinna said.  
  
Trey thought for a moment before replying, "Matt Midori."  
  
"So what were you three doing in our field? Trying to steal?" Aba asked suspiciously, poking Trey in the back with his rifle. Trey winced a little but did not cry out.  
  
"To tell you the truth, we got lost. We're trying to get to Greece," Trio stated.  
  
"Wandering through a field in Turkey?" Aba asked with a frown, "I don't see how that makes sense."  
  
"Well, it's a spiritual journey of some sorts," Trio said.  
  
"A life or death journey you could say," Shinna added. Trio glared behind her. Shinna looked at her pleadingly, hoping Trio would work with her.  
  
"Tana, you're not suppose to tell people that!"  
  
"Well it is," Shinna retorted with a pretend pout.  
  
"Oh! We didn't know!" Mista exclaimed. "Please come in! You must be thirsty! Aba, put that rifle away," Mista walked into the small house. Aba studied the trio a few moments more before giving them the heads up to go in his house. Trio walked in the wooden house slowly.  
  
At first Trey couldn't see anything once he stepped inside and he bumped into Shinna once. Quickly apologizing, he blinked multiple times until he could see the inside. There was a closed door on the other side of the room. To his right he could see a makeshift kitchen and to his right he saw a sewing loom with beautifully colored yarn or wool on it. In the center of the room was a table with four chairs. Sat on the middle of the table was a small bowl of fruit.  
  
"I'm afraid we haven't too much until the wheat comes in," Mista was saying, "but we have plenty of water and fruit for you to eat."  
  
"You're house is adorable, Mrs. Mista," Shinna commented.  
  
"It's humble enough," Mista replied. "Please sit down, I will get you something to eat and some food for your journey." Mista rushed into a small door in the kitchen Trey had not seen when he first entered. Aba entered with a block of wood and stacked it in the fireplace in the kitchen.  
  
"So where are you from?" Aba asked.  
  
"I don't know if we can tell you that," Trio said.  
  
"Why not?" Aba asked.  
  
"While on our journey our elders specifically stated we were not to tell any outsiders where we were from, I'm sorry," Shinna interjected.  
  
"We understand," Mista said, setting down four cups of clear, crystal water. She placed four bananas on the table and a small bowl of peanuts. "You can leave the shells on the table," she mumbled as she ran back into the pantry.  
  
The three G-Alloids dug into the small meal with a vengeance. It had been hours since any of them had ate anything and Trio suggested they not stop in mid air and trying to get the bag open would have made it impossible with the wind racing toward them.  
  
"So, kids, where are you heading?" Mista asked to fill the silence. The kids looked at each other, unsure of what to answer.  
  
Trey finally nodded and spoke up. "Athens, Greece, Ma'am."  
  
"That's still a ways away! Is there a deadline?"  
  
"Yea," Trio answered, "before we die." Mista laughed, but Aba just chuckled.  
  
"You sure are a smart aleck, what was your name again?"  
  
"Diana."  
  
"If you don't mind me asking, Diana, why is there only one male?"  
  
"Availability," Trio replied curtly. Aba guessed it was a sensitive subject and dropped the rest of the conversation.  
  
The G-Alloids ate in silence.  
  
"Why don't we turn on the radio?" Mista asked as she walked over to an old looking radio and flipped it on.  
  
'And today on your world news: Three teenagers, two females and one male have disappeared and a father is in the hospital in the Sanc Kingdom. One of the females has a brown braid, another had short black hair and the male has sandy brown hair. They disappeared between the hours of 9 and 10 last night. If you have any word, contact your local authorities.'  
  
Mista flipped the radio off and looked in shock at the teens sitting at her table.  
  
"That wouldn't happen to be you would it?" Trey froze and Shinna glanced at Trio. On the inside Trio was freaking out, trying to think of how to not betray them, but on the outside she appeared calm.  
  
"Do you know how far away the Sanc Kingdom is, Mrs. Mista? About 1400 miles. Do you REALLY think we could have made it THAT far in 17 hours?" Trio let out a short laugh. "I don't."  
  
Mista frowned and blushed, "I'm so sorry, I guess that was very rude of me. It's just you three fit the description so well."  
  
"They're right," Aba added. "They couldn't have possibly made it from the Sanc Kingdom in 17 hours. They'd have to be jets to be that fast."  
  
'Or part Gundam,' Trio said in her head. Trey and Shinna chuckled mentally too.  
  
"Well, as much as we've enjoyed staying with you," Trey said, standing up, "we really must be going. We've still got a long journey ahead of us."  
  
"Here," Mista said, leaning down and picking up three small packages, "here's some food for the road."  
  
"Thank you so much for your hospitality," Trio said, bowing to Mista as she stood. Trio turned around to face Aba and bowed again. "And thank you for not blowing off my head with a rifle."  
  
Aba laughed, "I guess you're welcome."  
  
"See ya!" Shinna yelled as they started down the road next to Mista and Aba's house. Mista and Aba waved back.  
  
"Think they were telling the truth?" Mista could not help but ask.  
  
"They couldn't have gotten that far in that short amount of time," Aba replied.  
  
"That was close!" Shinna muttered once they got out of sight of the couple.  
  
"Why would they do that? I can't figure this out. Why would they post a bulletin? It's too dangerous! Those fools!"  
  
"We should find a place to change back into the shirts," Trey said.  
  
"Why?" Shinna said in disgust, "we just changed out!"  
  
"And do you want holes in these nice, clean shirts?" Was his reply.  
  
"Guys, we're exhausted. We should've stayed a while and rested," Trio voiced.  
  
"Let's rest in this forest," Trey pointed into a small grove of trees. "We'll take watches."  
  
"That's just fine," Shinna said, running into the forest. Seconds later, the other two followed. When they caught up with Shinna, she had found a huge tree with roots that made a perfect shelter. Within minutes they had settled down. Trio offered to take first watch, then Trey and Shinna last. 


	34. A Brief Glimpse

AN: I have a new web site. It's At the moment it has a few Fukuyama Masaharu lyrics and I'm going to be posting this fic and my friend, Shahrezad1's fics on it. If you want to, drop by and leave me a note. Thanks a bunch..  
  
PS-Mikae, you leave it alone right now. GOT IT? I KNOW WHERE U SLEEP! *evil cackle*  
"What's been going on?" Heero asked.  
  
"Troubles with those damn G-Alloids is what's been going on," Jerome replied.  
  
Heero had traveled back to Earth when Jerome had called him with the most recent news. Jerome had met him at the nearest airport and drove him to the military hospital. Heero had checked up on Daemon before visiting Wufei or Shiro. Now the two men sat in the cafeteria getting a sandwich and talking about the problem infesting their lives.  
  
"I know that," Heero's irritated voice seeped over the table to Jerome's ears. Even though it had been 16 years since Heero had last killed, he was still as deadly as ever. He may not kill now, but his glare was enough to get the point across.  
  
"I don't know how to explain," Jerome said, brushing his hand through his hair.  
  
"The beginning. What brought about this rebellion? A quick summary will do fine."  
  
"Trio started dating Shiro. Everyone tried to keep her away so she wouldn't reveal the G-Alloids, but they failed.  
  
"Not even twenty-four hours ago, Shinna and Trio were talking in the forest. Shiro had followed them. He overheard them call each other by their true names. He remembered a document his father had had on his desk a few years back. From that he figured out their secret.  
  
"Trio and Shinna heard him gasp and found him. But at that time a sniper his father had hired found him and started firing at the teens. The teens managed to get hold of Duo who arrived a few minutes later.  
  
"But it got worse. Kai, the ringleader of the 'X' found them and ordered a tranquilizer dart fired that could knock out an African Elephant at Trio. Shiro jumped in front of the dart and that's why he's here.  
  
"Shiro was dropped off here and the girls headed back to Ken's house to talk with Ken and Daemon. Shinna and Trio were in the backyard when Wufei arrived and started ranting on how much he hated Trio and Shinna. Shinna went ballistic and took off and Trio followed.  
  
"They went to Sherri's house and tried to get some stuff together to run away. That's where Duo got cut and Wufei got stabbed. The girls took off after that."  
  
"So why did Daemon end up here?"  
  
"He was assigned to guard Trey, who had expressed how much he wanted to go with the girls. They got in a fight and Daemon got hit on the head, bad. When we got to Leo's house he had already lost a substantial amount of blood."  
  
"Hmm," Heero pondered.  
  
"Then somehow a bulletin got out about the kids. We're not sure who it was, but we intend to find out."  
  
"Where do you think they went?" Heero asked.  
  
"I have absolutely no clue. By the way," Jerome picked up his orange soda and took a sip before continuing. "Where's Relena? You two are hardly apart."  
  
"Trowa took a few days off and is watching her. She's still hammering out a peace treaty of sorts with some rebels in L3."  
  
"Ah, I see."  
  
"What do you plan on doing?"  
  
Jerome's face took a turn from a grin to grim seriousness. "I plan on keeping the closest tabs on the 'X' as I can. I plan on making sure if they find Trio, Shinna or Trey that I know and can jump ahead." Heero gave Jerome a look that said, 'Why don't you try and search for her?'.  
  
"I've raised Trio since before she was born and I know how difficult she can be to find so in case you wonder why I'm not searching for her."  
"How's he doing?" Duo whispered to Sally.  
  
"He's doing just fine. The doctors gave him a morphine shot so he's sleep better."  
  
"How are you doing?"  
  
"The fall didn't hurt the baby," Sally whispered with a smile.  
  
"I can't believe you waited this long to have a kid," Duo mumbled.  
  
"Things happen," was Sally's reply.  
  
"I'm going to check on Shiro," Duo said, turning to walk out.  
  
"By the way, how are you doing?"  
  
"It's just a scratch," Duo replied curtly.  
  
"I meant on the inside. I know you must be worried."  
  
"I am but that's not what's bugging me. What I can't figure out is how that bulletin got out," Duo said with a frown.  
  
"We don't know. Jerome's been here the whole time so it wasn't him."  
  
"Why would you say that?"  
  
"Ken and Leo were afraid he had lost all common sense and called the authorities."  
  
"Maybe the 'X'?" Sally shrugged.  
  
Duo sighed, "I'll talk with ya later."  
  
Duo went to the next room where Shiro had been placed. Shiro was awake watching the world news.  
  
"How ya doin, Pal?"  
  
"Huh?" Shiro glanced down from the TV momentarily. "Hey Duo," he replied, gluing his eyes back to the screen. "What's up?"  
  
"Nothing much, how are you?"  
  
"I'm feeling much better. The doctors say I can leave in an hour." Shiro beamed, eyes still watching the TV.  
  
"At 8:00 in the morning? Why so early?"  
  
"I told them I didn't want to stay anymore so they said I had to wait until 8."  
  
"Why aren't you getting dressed?"  
  
"I'm watching the world news."  
  
"Figures. Well, I'm going to go check on Daemon. Want me to pass any words along?"  
  
"Just, 'get better'."  
  
"All right, see ya later."  
  
"DUO!" Shiro practically screamed. "LOOK!"  
  
Duo whirled around and turned his attention to the TV. A reporter was talking about a rebellion to the government in Ankara, Turkey. The woman was speaking and on the TV was a riot at a shopping center. People were smashing windows with bricks and stealing stuff.  
  
"No one is exactly sure what caused this riot, but many believe that it was caused by a jump in prices and a lowering in wages." But Duo and Shiro weren't watching the riot.  
  
In the background of the TV screen, walking out of a still standing store were two young girls and a young man. The boy had sandy brown hair while one the girls had a brown braid and the other black hair. It was Trio, Trey and Shinna.  
  
Shiro flung the sheets off and began dressing.  
  
"Maybe if we hurry we can follow their trail," Shiro muttered as he dressed. Duo stood transfixed at the screen. In Turkey, almost overnight they had flown 1400 miles and landed in Ankara, Turkey. It was nearly impossible.not possible.not.  
  
"Let's GO!" Shiro said, pulling Duo away from the TV and out the door. 


	35. Revolts in Ankara

GOMEN NASAI for not posting earlier, but I was having a little bit of a problem. No, not internet problems, and not writers block. I know exactly where the story is going, but I was out of writing energy. Here's the next chapter. ENJOY!  
  
"Trey, Trio, wake up," Shinna shoved the two sleeping kids. Shinna, who had taken the last watch, had climbed a tree to watch the sun rise. While she was up there, she had seen cow herders heading their way. She had waited to see if they would change course but she had no such luck; they would reach them any minute now.  
  
"Wha." Trio mumbled, blinking. "What's going on? I'm sleeping."  
  
"Cow herders are coming, we've gotta go." Trio perked up. Trey opened his eyes slowly and blinked a few times.  
  
"How far away?" Trey mumbled.  
  
"Not more than a mile, besides, if we sleep all day we'll never get to where we're going!"  
  
"Fine," Trio mumbled, sitting up and cringing when she stretched her leg, which had been cramped for hours. Trey popped up and dusted himself, and the blanket he had been sleep on, off. Trio stood up and flicked the blanket up and down until she felt it was clean enough. Folding it back up, both kids shoved their respective blankets into the bag.  
  
Before the kids could get all packed up, a voice rang out from the other side of the clearing.  
  
"Who's der? WAIT, BESSY!" A cow came crashing through the trees, running head on into the kids. Trio and Trey dodged the cow but Shinna screamed and ran for the tree, running up the branches as quickly as she could. The cow, which had kept her head down, ran right into the tree and knocked Shinna down, onto its back.  
  
"AH!!" Shinna screamed as the cow started bucking. The man who apparently owned the cow ran into the clearing. He stared at the scene for a moment before laughing.  
  
"That's what you get for not looking where you were going," he chuckled again. "BESSY!!!" The cow stopped bucking and turned around, acknowledging the man who was dressed in a light white flowing robe and an Arabic style hat. The cow bellowed once before leaning down on one knee to let Shinna down. Trembling, Shinna quickly backed away.  
  
"What.what.what the HELL is wrong with that COW?"  
  
The man laughed, "She's a crazy cow she is.now, what are you three kids doing in this forest? It's forbidden."  
  
"We're terribly sorry," Trio said, bowing, "but we seem to have a knack for getting lost recently. Can you tell us where the nearest town is?"  
  
"That way," he said, pointing over his shoulder. "But you might want to wait a while."  
  
"Why's that?" Trey asked.  
  
"Cow herders will be coming through for about 10 minutes and it will be almost impossible to get through."  
  
"ALMOST?" Trio asked.  
  
"Well," he replied, putting his hand behind his head, "you COULD go through the trees, but there are snakes."  
  
"Snakes?" Trio inquired, "and that's suppose to scare us why?"  
  
"DUH!" Shinna shrieked, "snakes are scaly and slimy and GROSS!"  
  
Trio rolled her eyes, "You girly girls are SO pathetic."  
  
"Meh," Shinna retorted, pulling her bottom eyelid down and sticking out her tongue.  
  
"Let's just go back out to the road," Trey suggested.  
  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the cow herder said. When the three kids looked at him with inquisitive looks he continued, "there's a bunch of revolts going on. The revolts is starting with teenagers your age and if you're out on the road, the police will think you're with them."  
  
"For being on the road?" Trio questioned.  
  
"The rebels always come on the major roads, no matter how many rebels there are."  
  
"Fine," Trio muttered, sitting down on the tree branches, "we'll wait." A dozen cows and another herder walked pass the man who had stopped. "Who are you anyway, sir?"  
  
"Bebar," he replied, "and you crazy kids would be?"  
  
"I'm Diana Kai, that's Tara Suzuki and that guy's Matt Midori."  
  
"Hmm, those aren't Turkish names."  
  
"No, our parent's were Japanese," Trey offered up, cutting Shinna off. Shinna glared but knew she probably would have made up a ridiculous story Bebar wouldn't believe.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Trio started to repeat their story, but as she began to speak, Bebar cut her off as a cow herder walked past him. "Sorry kids, I've got to go, nice to meet you anyway."  
  
"Thanks for that info Bebar," Shinna said. Bebar nodded as he rushed off to catch up with the other herders.  
  
"Let's go," Trio said, standing up again. The other two G-Alloids nodded and struck off down the cow trail.  
  
Ten minutes later the three kids reached a dirt road. Following the dirt road, it lead them to the back entrance to the open gate of Ankara. A guard dressed in a dull gray uniform stepped out in front of the teens.  
  
"State your names."  
  
"Diana Kai."  
  
"Tara Suzuki."  
  
"Matt Midori."  
  
"State your purpose in Ankara."  
  
"To obtain food and other supplies."  
  
"You may enter." The guard stepped away from the gate.  
  
"Can you tell us the present situation in Ankara?" Trey inquired.  
  
"Turkish teens are leading rebellions all around the city. If a revolt starts, get away or you will be tortured and possibly killed."  
  
"Thank you," the three chorused. Trey took the lead and led them through a series of windy streets. Walls surrounded certain sections of the city, probably houses. The houses and businesses open to the street tended to be slightly broken down. Some doors were broken in, some windows shattered all over the streets and some were burnt.  
  
"I guess we came to the bad part of town," Shinna whispered.  
  
"Don't think so," Trey replied, "there's a bunch of rebellions going on, remember? The WHOLE town may be like this."  
  
"But there's GOT to be a store around here somewhere," Shinna argued.  
  
"And what makes you think they'll accept OUR money?"  
  
"I thought American coins were accepted any where."  
  
"Oh, boy," Trio laughed; but Trio's laugh was cut short as the sound of machine guns rang out from ahead. Screaming, followed by terrified citizens, came rushing toward the unsuspecting kids. Trio was caught up in the crowd and swept off. Trey managed to pull Shinna against the building, but couldn't reach Trio in time.  
  
"SHINNA!" Trio screamed, as terrified citizens pushed her along. "HELP!"  
  
Trey's scream was lost behind Shinna's scream. "TRIO!" Shinna tried to pull out of Trey's grip but could not. "LET GO!"  
  
Trey started to let go. 'But if I let go I'll lose them both. Shinna,' a tear slipped down the boy's cheek, 'I love you too much to let go.'  
  
"I CAN'T LOSE BOTH OF YOU! TRIO CAN FEND FOR HERSELF!"  
  
"TREY, PLEASE!"  
  
"I can't lose both of you," Trey repeated, pulling the crying Shinna up to his chest. "I'm sure she'll be fine but I would die if I lost you."  
  
"Trey," Shinna cried into his shirt as he held her close. "If you won't let me go to save Trio don't let go of me."  
  
"I promise I'll protect you," Trey whispered with tears of frustration clouded his eyes, "always." 


	36. Narrow Escape

"TRIO!" Was all that Trio heard from her companions as she was pulled along with the frightened crowd. Trio struggled as hard as she could to get out of the mush, but to no avail. As she was swept back toward the back gate, Trio saw some people working their way over to the side before grabbing onto something and escaping.  
  
Trio pushed and pulled herself along the fronts and backs of the terrified Turks, finally getting to the edge. As Trio reached out in anticipation of the bar she would grab, a hand shot out of the alley and pulled her out. The grip was strong. Another hand grabbed her other arm and pinned her against the wall. The person stepped into the light.  
  
It was an older Turkish man about 5'8" tall. He towered over Trio, who was only 5'2". He had dark brown messy hair and he had a dangerous, wild look about him. Trio met his eyes with as much courage as she could. He stared into her eyes; it made her uncomfortable so she looked as his garbs. He wore a simple robe, but what made her worry was the sword and a knife at his belt.  
  
"Who, who are you?" Trio asked.  
  
"It's not as important as who are you?"  
  
"I'm no one of importance and of no value to you."  
  
"What makes you so sure?"  
  
"What doesn't?"  
  
"Answer my question!" He lifted off his arm to slap her, and that's when Trio kicked him in the nuts and bolted down the alley. 'I've got to find the others! Wait, I've got the communication line. Sheesh, I'll never get use to it. Shinna! TREY!' No one answered. 'HEY! Can anyone hear me?!' Still no one answered. A sound behind her made her stop and glance. The man was chasing her, despite his obvious pain. He also had his knife drawn.  
  
Panic filled Trio's heart. She couldn't transform here in front of this man and she wasn't sure she was strong enough to fend him off.  
  
'Deathscythe!' She cried, 'HELP ME!'  
  
'Think booster!' Trio did, and she felt her body surge with energy. It also pushed her faster than she was used to and she cried as she crashed to the ground, hitting her head.  
  
Before Trio could come to her senses and jump to her feet, the man was atop her, holding her legs down. Her arms were trapped underneath her stomach. His knife reached around her neck.  
  
"I'm not giving you a chance to answer this time, I'm just going to kill you."  
  
"Please, stop," Trio begged.  
  
"Maybe if you hadn't kicked my balls I might have given you a second chance."  
  
With a fierce determination, Trio replied, "Then you give me no choice," and willed her wings out, cutting her shirt to shreds. The man went flying against the wall. Trio stood up. "You will be silenced, permanently." She willed a small scythe into her hand.  
  
The Turkish man was too frightened to move. Trio reached him and squeezed his cheeks until his mouth open. The man's tongue willingly stuck out; he seemed to know that it was either his tongue or his life. Grabbing his slimy tongue and with one quick motion, Trio cut it off. The tongue-less man cried out and ran off, leaving his knife behind. Sighing, Trio retreated her wings through her torn shirt into her tattoos.  
  
"You made me do it, you know." Suddenly, pain flared through her neck and Trio dropped to her knees. Trio reached up to her neck, where she felt a warm, sticky liquid flowing. Pulling it down into her vision, she saw it was blood. 'He must have cut my neck when I pulled out my wings. Damn him.' Trio reached around to her back, knowing there would be a strip of cloth between her shoulder blades; but the pain was so great, Trio could only sit on the ground next to the knife and await her next obstacle.  
  
Trio's sight got hazy but out of the corner of her eye she saw a smaller man approach her. Despite the pain, Trio picked up the knife and stood up holding it in a defense position. Standing up so quickly made the G-Alloid dizzy and she swayed, nearly falling down. The man rushed forward and Trio made a few swipes at him, which he avoided.  
  
Trio slashed again, but she was so dizzy he easily avoided her aim again. Swinging again, Trio flung too far and lost her balance. But before she could hit the ground, the young man caught her. He gently pulled the knife out of her hand and sat her down next to the wall, now splattered with blood from both her and the attacker a few moments ago.  
  
"Calm down, you'll hurt yourself."  
  
"Won't YOU hurt me?" Trio muttered. The boy blinked in confusion.  
  
"Is that why you were trying to spill my blood as well?" When Trio didn't answer he laughed. "I guess that's how you got hurt." He looked onto the ground, where Trio had flung the man's tongue and he paled. "Guess you took care of him. Hmm, must have got ya before you got to him." He shook his head and continued his rambling, "Anyway, I'm Aka Issen."  
  
"That's not a very Turkish name," Trio replied.  
  
"It's not. A long time ago a Japanese man came to my village outside Ankara. I was fighting with another boy and I beat him to a bloody pulp and he said I fought a 'bloody battle'. So when my village was destroyed I took that name in honor of that man."  
  
"That's a kind thing to do, the name that is, not the fight."  
  
Aka shrugged, "When someone insults your mother, what can do but teach them a lesson? But we shouldn't be worrying about that right now, you're injured."  
  
"How bad is it?"  
  
"Just a cut on your neck. Luckily, it didn't cut a major artery or vein, but it did cut one, I think. Here," Aka put his head under her arm and helped her up, "let's get you to a doctor."  
  
Trio struggled to stand on her own and when she finally got up (with Aka's help), tried to walk off.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?" Aka asked irritably.  
  
"I've got to find my friends, I got separated from them, I've got to find them."  
  
"You're in no condition to wander about. Let's get to a doctor and then I can go find them."  
  
Trio shook her head, "I must find them, I've got to go." Trio struggled against Aka, but she was no match for him in her present condition.  
  
"I'm not letting you go anywhere until we at least get this patched up."  
  
"Must, find, friends," Trio muttered as she collapsed unconscious into Aka's awaiting arms.  
  
"Sleep well, Trio Hawk." 


	37. Someone Knows

AN: Sorry about the late update, sheesh, 6 days without a chapter, sorry.  
  
"Hn?" Trio slowly opened her eyes slowly, blinking until her vision cleared. She saw a wooden ceiling and glancing around Aka came into her vision sitting on a stool next to an old woman.  
  
Looking over at Trio and seeing her awake, Aka jumped up. "I see you're awake, that's good. How are you feeling?"  
  
"Don't ask her questions now, she's weak."  
  
Surprisingly, Trio felt little weakness. Trio sat up and turned her neck sideways until it didn't feel as stiff.  
  
"Don't do that!" The old woman cried out, leaping to Trio's side and holding her head still. "You'll injure yourself!"  
  
"Seriously, I feel fine, just let me get the kinks out of my neck, please." The old woman reluctantly let go.  
  
After a few minutes of stretching her neck, Trio felt better, heck, she was fully rested.  
  
"So, are you feeling better?" Aka asked again.  
  
Trio smiled at Aka's kindness. "I'm feeling very well, thank you. But," Trio frowned, "I must find my friends. I MUST."  
  
"But you're injured!" Aka protested again.  
  
"I'll be fine," Trio muttered, crawling out of bed, to the surprise of the old woman and Aka. Trio saw she wasn't dressed in her clothes anymore. 'They must have redressed me since I was covered in blood and my shirt was torn to shreds.' Trio was now wearing a light gray dress that swayed around her ankles.  
  
"Thank you for all your help, but I really must be going," Trio tried to step past the old woman, but she stuck out her arm, stopping Trio in her tracks.  
  
"If you're going to insist on leaving now, take Aka with you. You couldn't possibly defend yourself if you're attacked again."  
  
"'Never judge a book by it's cover', or so I've heard. Please do not judge me and think I am weak because I was pinned when he got me. I don't need Aka's help now, even though before it was very much appreciated."  
  
"You're so foolish," the old woman muttered. "You may think you're strong, but thoughts and actions are two very different things."  
  
"Where are my shoes?" Trio asked. The old woman pointed at Trio's feet. The shoes were next to the bed. Trio thought for a moment before slipping on her shoes. The old woman was right in the aspect that she probably wouldn't be strong enough to fend off another attack. "I'll agree only on ONE condition."  
  
"And that would be?"  
  
"That as soon as I find my friends, he leaves. I'll have no need at all for him after that, and I've got a deadline to make, I cannot afford any more time. This incident has cost me enough."  
  
"First, it has only cost you maybe two hours. Second, I agree to your condition," Aka replied. "Now let's go." Aka walked out the door, leaving Trio behind to gather her stuff.  
  
"Those are strange shoes," the old woman commented.  
  
"They're just tennis shoes," Trio replied.  
  
"Tennis shoes are not common."  
  
"Then what are?"  
  
"Straw sandals are my favorite."  
  
"Did you want your dress back?"  
  
"No, it was my daughter's. She died a few years back and it pains me to keep that dress around."  
  
"Thank you so much for your help," Trio said as she started to walk out the broken screen door. "May I ask what your name is?"  
  
"Anaka."  
  
"You've helped me a lot Anaka, thanks." Trio replied stepping through the doorway. Aka was leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.  
  
"Ready to go?" Aka asked.  
  
"Yea, but I don't know where."  
  
"I could take you back to where I found you."  
  
"But that's nowhere near where I left them."  
  
Frowning, Aka asked, "By the way, where's your knife?"  
  
"Knife?"  
  
"Yea, I just remembered I didn't see a knife where I found you, yet a fresh human tongue lay at your feet. Why would that be?"  
  
"I used his knife. You couldn't have missed that knife," Trio replied coldly. Aka hadn't budged an inch since Trio had walked outside.  
  
"I actually think it had something to do with those wings you had."  
  
Trio's blood ran cold. 'No, it can't be! He couldn't have seen me.' "I don't get it."  
  
"Oh, but I think you do. Remember those black bat wings you had, that helped get that attacker off you?"  
  
"You mean you were just standing there watching a girl get attacked?! You could have HELPED me?!" Trio grabbed for Aka's collar but he intercepted her hand. Pulling her along, Aka went into the alley next to Anaka's house. He pulled a knife out of his pocket.  
  
"Yes, I saw it but you had a handle on the situation at the time. Now," Aka pressed the knife up to Trio's throat, "who are you really and what is going on?"  
  
"What will you do if I don't tell you?"  
  
"I'm afraid I might have to kill you. I have no need for liars."  
  
"Aka, stop it, please, don't force me to."  
  
"Answer the question or pay the consequences! I don't know what's going on and quite frankly I'm scared. It's not every day a girl with BAT wings of all things is found fighting in an alley. Tell me, please. It would be in your best interest to have someone to trust."  
  
Trio froze, trying again to stall for time. "Aka, please don't." Trio hissed and flinched, the knife pushing up against her wound. "Aka." Tears sprang to Trio's eyes. "I'm." "Can I, or should I tell him? It would save my life.but.' Trio heard Daemon telling all of them they could not betray the G-Alloids and how much damage it could cause if they did. Her friends would die if she did but she would die if she didn't.  
  
"I.can't. Even if it costs me my life I cannot betray my friends." The Deathscythe G-Alloid's reply was full of courage as she straightened herself. "Kill me if you wish, I cannot betray them. As much as I would like for someone to know, I cannot, no I WILL NOT betray them."  
  
Aka's brown eyes went wide with surprise then hardened. "You'd really give up your life to protect your friends?"  
  
"You don't give me much of a choice do you?"  
  
"It doesn't really matter if you tell me." Trio frowned in confusion. "But I just cannot believe you would do such a thing, Trio."  
  
"How.do you know my name?"  
  
Aka shook his head. "I told you it doesn't really matter if you tell me, but I'd rather have heard it coming from you. Oh well."  
  
Aka's eyes softened, both in compassion and color, (Trio noted this as strange) as he loosened his grip on Trio and moved the knife away from the teen's throat.  
  
"Where did you see your friends last?"  
  
"It was just before a square of some type. There were gunshots and people ran out and swept me away. That's all I know."  
  
"It's gotta be the market place. Let's go find them!" Aka smiled, putting away his knife and walking out the alley, Trio behind him.  
  
"Why the sudden change in attitude?" Trio asked.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"One second you're holding a knife to my throat the next second we're buddy buddy's."  
  
Aka frowned intently. "I don't remember this knife incident you speak of."  
  
Trio frowned as well. "We'll have to talk about that later," she said, lapsing into silence. 


	38. Market Place Cleanup

After three our four grueling minutes all the people in the market were finally able to vacate the immediate area. The two G-Alloids slid away from the building.  
  
Trey held Shinna waiting for her crying spell to stop. Shinna slammed her fist into Trey's chest.  
  
"Why? Why did you just let her go? Why did you save me?"  
  
"You were closer," Trey whispered. "And, because.I."  
  
"You what?" the Altron G-Alloid asked, looking up into Trey's green eyes.  
  
"I." Trey stared into her eyes. 'I love you.'  
  
"Trey?"  
  
"I think we should go to the place where the people were coming from. Trio might head there."  
  
Shinna, knowing Trey was going to say something more important glared at Trey and pushed away from his warm chest with specks of her tears still attached and started to make her way towards the market. Trey sighed and followed.  
  
'You're going to have to tell her eventually," Heavyarms said calmly.  
  
'I think she already knows, so why bother saying it aloud?'  
  
'Women like it said aloud,' Trey's Gundam companion replied. 'Tell her aloud soon. By the way, see if you can get hold of Trio on the CL.'  
  
'Ok,' Trey said, ending his conversation with Heavyarms.  
  
'TRIO!' No reply. 'Trio? Can you hear me?' All the teen could hear was static.. 'That's odd,' Trey thought. 'There's never been static before.'  
  
Not far into the market dead bodies were already littering the ground. Shinna touched Trey's arm for support. Trey reached for Shinna's hand, in which she grasped gladly. Men, women and even a few children lay with horror-filled eyes looking up at the two teens.  
  
"What the heck happened? Who did this?"  
  
"I don't know, maybe those rebels the soldier at the gate was talking about."  
  
"Maybe," Shinna replied. "But why are we walking into the market place? I still don't get it. Trio went the other way."  
  
"Because if she tries to find us I think the first place she'd come is here, where she last saw us."  
  
"Why don't we use the communication line?"  
  
Trey shook his head, "First off, the others in the Sanc Kingdom might hear us and second, I already tried, She might have turned her remote off."  
  
"What are we going to do while we wait?"  
  
A shout from a soldier answered her question, "Hey! You kids! Come help us clean up! This is big market day. We've must get this place cleaned up.again!"  
  
"Yes, sir." Trey replied, "But may my companion sit this out? She doesn't have the stomach for this type of work."  
  
"And you'll help twice as hard to make up for her absence?"  
  
Shinna stood up, walking toward a dead child. Trey stepped in front of her.  
  
"Trey, I can handle it. You need not work harder for me."  
  
"But I will. I don't want your hands to get soiled."  
  
"Trey." Shinna whispered as Trey, his gray shirt quickly becoming soaked with blood as he lifted a body into a cart that the militiamen brought in.  
  
The militiamen were dressed in brown or black robes with white marks across the chest on the robes. There appeared to be no women in the group but a few women showed up to pick up objects that were knocked over in the panic.  
  
Shinna looked around, trying to find a way to help without disobeying Trey's wishes.  
  
Scattered about the ground were objects from the various stands. Purses, shoes, even hats lay scattered about the nearly deserted market place. Seeing the militiamen in the square, people came back in and started to help clean up. Thieves trying to take advantage of the opportunity were promptly arrested and the objects returned to their locations or put in a pile of 'lost and found'.  
  
With the backpack containing all of the G-Alloid's stuff still on her back, Shinna walked about the grounds until she saw a brown hide purse and stuck it in her pocket. A white robed militiaman grabbed her arm.  
  
"Thieves are punished," he said in broken English as he withdrew a sickle knife. Shinna paled and jerked her arm out of his grasp.  
  
"And what if I was trying to help clean up? Where am I suppose to put all the stuff?" Shinna retorted hotly.  
  
"If you're helping, here's a bag to put the stuff in," he replied in an apologetic way, pulling a black bag from a larger black bag  
  
"I'm sorry if I made you think I was a thief," Shinna said, taking the brown cowhide purse out of her pocket and putting it into the black sack.  
  
"You're that strong young foreigner's companion are you not?" He asked, motioning to Trey.  
  
"I am."  
  
"Not every day strangers help clean up," he remarked.  
  
"We lost our companion in the fray and we decided to help clean up until she arrived back or we finish up here." Shinna leaned over and grabbed a little sandal shoe, putting it into the bag. "We're worried about our friend and my companion thought she might come back here first."  
  
"That smart idea," he replied. "I will send out men to find her. What she look like?"  
  
"She has a brown braid down to her thighs. She is about my height. Her name is Diana."  
  
The man yelled out orders in a language that Shinna couldn't understand. Three men rushed off in the direction the stampede had headed. "Mind I ask your names?"  
  
"I don't mind," Shinna said. "I'm Tana and my friend is called Matt. Thank you for helping us in return. Do you mind if I ask who you are?"  
  
"Commander Askbe."  
  
"Are you in charge?"  
  
"In the cleanup department."  
  
Shinna fell silent while she continued to pick up people's lost items. The men who came in were mostly militiamen and helped pick up the dead and injured, putting them into separate carts. The women who came in were ordinary citizens and they were picking up scattered items from stalls all throughout the market place. Askbe wandered off to talk to other militiamen and Shinna caught him once talking to Trey.  
  
"Trio," Shinna whispered, while she picked up a shirt from a stand and replaced it back in its proper place. "Hurry up."  
  
With all the help arriving, it only took the cleanup crew a little over two hours to get the market place back up and running. Floods of people arrived shortly, making it impossible to move much. Shinna had to literally shove people out of her way to reach Trey and the militiamen.  
  
"Thank you for helping," Askbe said as Shinna walked up to the militiamen and Trey, her black bag hugged up against her chest.  
  
"You're welcome," Trey replied. "But have you heard back from your men?"  
  
"We have not."  
  
"Commander!" A soldier yelled from across the market place. Askbe climbed up on a raised platform.  
  
"YES?"  
  
"We found them!" 'Them?' Shinna thought. "They cornered themselves in alley."  
  
"Follow me," Askbe commanded the two G-Alloids as he walked through the crowds. Trey quickly followed, pulling Shinna behind him.  
  
"Which alley?" Askbe asked when he reached the soldier. The man motioned for the commander to follow.  
  
The remaining two militiamen guarded the alley entrance. Backing away from the two foreigners, they bowed their thanks and presented the two people.  
  
A young man crouched with a knife out in a defensive position. The woman stood behind him, neither cowering nor standing arrogantly. Though the alley was long, there was no mistaking the woman was Trio even though she was dressed in a gray dress.  
  
Shinna started to scream 'Trio' but remembered her alias just in time. "DIANA!" Shinna shoved the black bag and the backpack into Trey's hands before taking off down the alley.  
  
Before she could reach Trio, the man's hands shot out and grabbed her arm. Irritated, Shinna grabbed his arm in return and flipped him over on his back. A grunt escaped him as his back made contact with the ground.  
  
"You're all right!" Shinna said as she came to a halting stop in front of her friend.  
  
Trio, however, was stepping past Shinna and leaning down to the young man.  
  
"Aka? Are you all right?"  
  
"I'm okay," Aka replied, standing up and dusting himself off, knife still in hand.  
  
"DIANA!" Shinna screeched. "Is this how you say 'hi' to your friend?!"  
  
"Sorry," Trio replied, laughing nervously. "Hi, Tana."  
  
"Friend of yours I'm guessing?"  
  
"My best friend. Tana, meet Aka. Aka, meet Tana. And that young man down there is my friend Matt."  
  
"I'm guessing these are your friends you lost in the stampede?"  
  
"They are," Trio nodded happily.  
  
"Then Tana and Matt are not their real names, Trio." Shinna gasped, looking at both kids quickly. "Care to rephrase your answer?" Aka asked quietly.  
  
Trio frowned at Aka. "Aka, I told you I wouldn't betray them, don't ask that."  
  
"What's going on?" Shinna whispered with venom in her voice. 


	39. Friends fight: Aka and Nekura

"Please, let me explain," Trio pleaded. But Shinna had already turned around and was stomping off, back up the alley. "TANA!" Trio, tears in her eyes, ran after her friend, grabbing Shinna's arm and ripping her around. "Do you think I would betray you?!"  
  
"It appears so," Shinna retorted, pulling her arm out of Trio's grasp. "Now if you don't mind I'm going to go now." Trio watched Shinna walk back to Trey. Grabbing the backpack, Shinna took off with Trey standing there with the black bag, watching Trio stare in horror at her friend leave her.  
  
Trio blinked, realizing Trey was still standing there.  
  
"Trey, please talk some sense into her!" Trio cried, running up to the sandy-haired boy and grabbing onto his bloody shirt.  
  
"Whoa," Trey said, putting the bag into the Commander's hands and grasping Trio's shoulders. "What's going on?"  
  
"Meet me back at the cleanup tent after you work this out," Commander Askbe said, briskly walking away from the embarrassing situation.  
  
"That's just fine," Trey mumbled to the retreating Commander. Turning back to Trio, he asked, "What's wrong, Diana?"  
  
"I'm afraid it's my fault," Aka interjected. Trey eyed the young man suspiciously. "I seem to have said something to upset your friend."  
  
"UPSET?!" Trio exploded, letting go of Trey and launching herself at Aka. "She thinks I betrayed her; no betrayed us!"  
  
"What in the name of Gundam happened?" Trey said, throwing his hands in the air.  
  
"I accidentally saw Trio, or Diana as you call her, transform to save herself."  
  
"And she told you her name?" Trey asked suspiciously.  
  
"No."  
  
"How do you know it then?"  
  
"I don't know," Aka replied, frowning.  
  
"So she thinks you betrayed us," Trey looked at the ground, concentrating.  
  
"But, but, it's not my fault!"  
  
"Huh?" Trey asked, snapping out of his concentration.  
  
"My transformation, I was helpless. Please talk with her, tell her I didn't tell him ANYTHING!"  
  
"I'll try," Trey replied, walking towards the area Shinna had been heading.  
  
"We'll be right here," Trio said feebly. Trey waved back at her, letting the Deathscythe G-Alloid know he had heard her.  
  
Trio sank to the ground, sobbing under her breath. Aka walked up to her, leaning down next to her and grasping her shoulders in his hands and pulling her down onto the dirt between his legs.  
  
"Relax," the dark-haired boy whispered.  
  
"How can you say that? Y'wanna know what? I don't care!" Trio pushed herself away from Aka and stood up. Turning to face him, anger clearly evident on her face she walked to the back of the alley.  
  
"Trio," Aka pleaded as the young man stood and took a few steps toward the angry girl, "don't be angry."  
  
"Y'know, we had a deal; you could come with me until I found my friends and guess what? I found them. You're now released from your bondage." Trio sat on the ground, her legs pulled toward her body and her face in her lap.  
  
"Trio," Aka replied, walking up to her but not making any motion to touch her, "I can understand that you're mad at me, I had no right to say that. Heck, I don't even remember actually saying it."  
  
Trio looked up. "What do you mean?"  
  
Aka's face took on a pained look. "I have.blackouts sometimes. I'll be living my life and suddenly I'll wake up doing something I shouldn't be. Take for example: I was waiting for you to come out and before I realized it, I was pulling my knife away from your throat and asking you about your friends. And I quite frankly can't remember how I learned your true name either."  
  
Trio put her face back into her lap. "Aka.I'm sorry, but I don't ever want to talk to you again until my friends forgive me."  
  
Aka took a step back. "What? That's quite unlike you to say such a cruel thing!"  
  
Trio looked up at her rescuer with a look of loathing, "Until Tana forgives me and accepts me back or whatever, I don't want to talk to you. You can talk to me all you like, but you'll get no response."  
  
Trio stared into Aka's eyes. As if sensing her anger they darkened and became hard. 'Just like last time,' she noted with a hint of concern.  
  
"Oh you'll talk to me all right, begging me for mercy!" Aka jumped, closing the distance between the two so quickly Trio couldn't move. His hands grasped her throat. Trio screamed in agony while trying to get him to loosen his grip.  
  
"BEG YOU WHORE! BEG FOR YOUR LIFE!" Trio glared at Aka in defiance. "BEG!!!!!" The teen squeezed harder and was rewarded with another scream. "HA! Listen to you scream, now DIE!" Aka squeezed so hard that Trio's vision immediately went black and her scream was cut short.  
  
Gasping for breath, Trio suddenly felt the pressure removed and her voice returned and her vision restored. Trio coughed a few times, which drowned out the sound of the attack on Aka.  
  
"Please! Stop it!" Aka cried out. Trio's vision cleared completely. Trey and Shinna were standing over the bloody Aka, who was cringing against the concrete wall.  
  
"You'll pay!" Shinna was screaming.  
  
"NO!" Trio shouted, jumping in front of a deadly blow Shinna had aimed at Aka's neck. Shinna stopped the attack within an inch of Trio's leg, which would have broken it.  
  
"He tried to KILL you, Trio. Why are you standing up for him?"  
  
"I." Trio looked down, ashamed. "I think he is bipolar. He's a great friend and perfectly harmless unless you make him mad, then his eyes darken to a near black and his face takes on a hardened look. Then he's someone else, deadly and violent."  
  
Trio shook her head. "I'm sorry if you think I betrayed you, but I cannot allow you to hurt him."  
  
"Aka," Trey interrupted, "Do you know anything about this 'other personality'?"  
  
"It seems to know a lot of important information," Aka replied as he sat up.  
  
"What kind of information?" Shinna questioned.  
  
Aka seemed to be reliving a memory he found confusing and frightening but he relived it to save Trio. "I saw her in the alley, beautiful wings extended over the scared man, saw her cut out his tongue and I saw the man run off. I ran up to her when she collapsed, her wings returning to her body and she tried to cut me.  
  
"Once she finally became unconscious I blacked out for just a few seconds.but I didn't black out completely and I heard myself say 'Sleep well, Trio Hawk.'"  
  
"But that doesn't tell us what KIND of information you know," Shinna said irritably.  
  
"Isn't it obvious?" Aka retorted, standing up and leaning toward the little Chinese girl. "It must be information about you guys, whoever you are or WHATEVER you are. Maybe this person knows who you all are and WHAT you all are, but I don't. I know her name is Trio Hawk and she has bat wings. That's it."  
  
"But how do we know you're telling the truth?" Shinna asked doubtfully.  
  
"You don't," Aka replied frankly, "but I." Aka's eyes went wide and his face slack as he stared at Shinna.  
  
"You okay?" Shinna asked, raising her eyebrow.  
  
The daughter of Wufei looked on in horror as the slack face went tight, too tight and the eyes seemed to suck in all the light from the shadows.  
  
"TRIO!" Shinna screamed, "LOOK OUT!" But Trio turned around too late, Aka's hands clasping her around her waist and pulling her back towards him. His knife came out of its sheath and fastened itself right next to her neck.  
  
"Now listen very carefully, Shinna, because Trio's life will depend on it."  
  
"Who are you first? Tell us who you are."  
  
"Why I'm Aka of course," Aka said in a sick, mocking tone. Turning serious again he replied, "But I'm the evil part of Aka. His name is spelled the same backwards and forwards and this makes it simple for me to be Aka and not Aka."  
  
"So Aka has a good side and a bad side inside him." Trey muttered, "but how do YOU know about us?"  
  
"That's none of your business," Evil Aka snapped. Pushing the knife downward toward Trio's chest he whispered quietly, "Are you three ready to hear the terms of our agreement?"  
  
"What agreement?" Trio whispered back.  
  
"You three will take me with you," he said loud enough the other two G- Alloids (who were still in shock) could hear him, "to wherever you're going. You won't abandon me. It'll be like I'm one of you."  
  
"Why would we agree to that?" Shinna snapped.  
  
"You agree or she dies!" Aka shouted, emphasizing his point by dragging the knife gently on Trio's thinly bandaged neck.  
  
"Trio? Do you agree?" Trey asked calmly.  
  
"Only on one condition," she replied quietly.  
  
'Trio? Can you hear me?' It was Trey.  
  
'Yea.'  
  
'I think it would be in all of our best interest to agree.'  
  
"What's that condition?" Aka was saying.  
  
"That I be allowed to call you, the Evil Aka, by a different name. You are not Aka."  
  
"And what would that name be?"  
  
"Nekura. It means dark."  
  
"Fine," Nekura replied, pushing the dazed Trio toward her companions as he sheathed his knife. "Let's go." 


	40. Getting on the Airplane

"How much longer before we can climb on this damn flight?" Jerome muttered irritably as he uncrossed his legs and arms for what had to be the third time in two minutes.  
  
"If you don't quit saying that," Shiro growled, "we'll NEVER get on."  
  
"Then how are you going to get to your lover?" Duo teased.  
  
"DUO!" Shiro blushed. "Don't SAY THAT! You're embarrassing me and people might hear you!"  
  
Jerome laughed and rolled his eyes. "They're noticing you more than us." Shiro looked around and noted that Jerome was right. More people had noticed his scene rather than Duo or Jerome's.  
  
"Well fine," he muttered, "but being impatient isn't going to make the plane land any faster."  
  
"Stop trying to be so calm and act like you're not anxious for the plane to be ready!" Daemon spoke up.  
  
"At least I'M being calm about it!" Shiro retorted.  
  
"Stop arguing you two," Alex interrupted.  
  
Sighing irritably, Shiro replied, "Just why did you two have to come for? I mean, it's not like we couldn't handle this."  
  
"It's YOUR fault we have to do this anyway," Daemon retorted.  
  
"Is NOT! If your precious WUFEI hadn't have opened his big mouth Shinna would never have run away and then we wouldn't have to chase them all in the first place!"  
  
"It doesn't matter whose fault it is!" Alex interrupted loudly. Both boys went silent. "That's better. What matters is that we can't seem to find them with our communications line and they have been seen in Ankara, Turkey. We should work on working together to get all three of them back safely and as quickly as possible before Shiro's dad finds them."  
  
"And that's another thing! Shiro led his dad right to our friends!"  
  
"If you don't shut that hole in your mouth and stop trying to pick a fight," Jerome interjected, "I'll do it for you. And I don't think you'll like a gun in your mouth."  
  
"You can't tell me what to do!" Daemon shot back, "you're not my father!"  
  
"You want to go back, Kid?" Daemon didn't reply. "Didn't think so. Look, I'm concerned for them too. I can't believe Trio and Trey even agreed to such a thing! But we've got to be that we know where they are."  
  
"FLIGHT 1900 FOR ANKARA, TURKEY GO TO DOCK PORT 6. THE PLANE WILL LEAVE IN A ½ HOUR."  
  
"'Bout damn time," Jerome claimed, jumping up and grabbing his bags.  
  
"Do you ALWAYS have to swear, Jerome?" Alex asked.  
  
"Where my daughter is concerned, yes." Daemon started to open his mouth and Jerome could tell he was going to say something along the lines of 'She's not your daughter' so he beat him to it. "I don't care if she's not biologically my daughter. My wife died saving her from those freaks and I raised her so I've got just as much of a legitimate reason to call her my daughter as Duo."  
  
"Actually," Daemon said, "I was going to say watch out for that cute girl."  
  
"Wha?" Jerome asked, and he bumped into a small teenage girl who had been having difficulties holding her stuff and trying to put her luggage on the turnstile.  
  
She had blonde hair and was wearing a plain gray shirt and jeans with white tennis shoes. The girl's already slipping bags scattered all over the ground.  
  
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Jerome exclaimed as he sat his bags down to help the girl.  
  
"I'm fine!" The girl snapped as she pulled her bags close to her. "Don't worry about it!"  
  
"Jerome, you're horrible," Daemon chuckled. "May I be of assistance?" he asked the small teenager.  
  
The girl looked up at Daemon with a smile. "Why of course, if it's not too much trouble." Jerome gawked at the two teens.  
  
"Not at all," Daemon smiled, sitting his bags down on the turnstile and lifted her seemingly light bags. "Sorry about my companion, he's a little slow sometimes."  
  
"Surely," the girl replied with a venomous glare. Turning her sweet gaze back on Daemon she said, "My name is Amy Sanders. What's yours?"  
  
"Daemon," the Wing Zero G-Alloid replied.  
  
"You don't got a last name?" Amy teased.  
  
"Um.." Daemon blushed, "Uh.well.Zero."  
  
"Zero? Your last name is Zero?" Daemon's eyes wandered a little farther down than he meant to go, and Amy laughed. Daemon blushed even more.  
  
"Daemon Zero is my name," Daemon finally sputtered out.  
  
"Well, Daemon ZERO, are you heading to Ankara as well?"  
  
"Yea, we've gotta go pick up a couple friends."  
  
"WE?" She asked with her eyebrows raised.  
  
"My friend Jerome here, Duo, Shiro, and Alex."  
  
"That's a lot of people for going to pick up a few friends," Amy said suspiciously.  
  
"We're making this into a vacation I think," Daemon shrugged.  
  
"I'm going to visit family in England and have to pass through Turkey first."  
  
"I hope you have fun in England," Daemon replied. "I've never been to Europe."  
  
"Neither have I, but Mom and Dad are having personal problems so they're sending me away for a few weeks to see if they can work them out."  
  
"That's great. I mean, that they're trying to work it out."  
  
Amy shrugged her indifference. "I guess."  
  
"Stop socializing and get on the plane!" Shiro shouted in Daemon's ear.  
  
"You IDIOT!" Daemon shouted back. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"  
  
"Fine," Shiro spat, "but don't blame us if you sit by yourself! You're not allowed to save seats!" Shiro spat as he left in a huff. 


	41. Another Ally: Melody Starr

"Touchy ain't he?" Amy asked, grabbing Daemon's arm and pulling him along behind her as they headed for the plane.  
  
"He hasn't seen his fiancée in a while."  
  
"Fiancée? He doesn't look old enough to be engaged."  
  
"He's almost 17 I think."  
  
"But you can't get married until you're 18."  
  
Daemon shrugged, "That's his business."  
  
"As an expert on underage engagements they're probably only engaged so if they have a baby they can just get married!!" Amy argued.  
  
"Diana and Shiro aren't like that at all. Besides, it's not my business, Amy."  
  
"You should make it your business," Amy pushed.  
  
"I'm sorry," a humble brunette in front of the two tangled teens interrupted as they reached the boarding lane. "I couldn't help but overhear you saying that this gentleman should make his friend's engagement his business."  
  
"And what of it?" Amy asked coldly.  
  
"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but he shouldn't interfere with his friend's personal life."  
  
"Who asked you, Wretch?"  
  
"That was rude," the young male teenager interrupted.  
  
"She shouldn't listen to our conversations," Amy replied hotly. "Besides, who are you going to listen to? An ugly brunette you just met or me?"  
  
Daemon blinked at Amy. He could now see the demon in her. She was petty and jealous. The brunette was only trying to get Daemon to see what lies Amy was telling him. He guessed the small brunette had been involved with something similar to his situation before and maybe she'd gotten 'burnt'. Amy was probably more interested in Daemon's body than anything else.  
  
'You're a smart tack,' Zero replied. 'Shiro could see right through her.'  
  
'Be quiet, Zero. I've seen through her before it got too far so there.'  
  
"I'm afraid she's right," Daemon replied, pulling his arm out of her grasp. "It IS none of my business. Besides, while I don't get along way too well with the guy I don't object to their decision to be engaged."  
  
"Well, fine! I guess only girls would want you for your body and not your brains because you just proved how stupid you are!" Amy spat.  
  
"Be nice to him," the brunette said, stepping toward Daemon.  
  
"Get out of here you dog!" Amy retorted, reaching toward the girl to do physical damage to her.  
  
"You go ahead of us," Daemon said, grabbing Amy's arm and the brunette's and pushing Amy forward; the brunette he pulled back gently. "I've more to discuss with this gentle girl here than you."  
  
"Fine!" Amy huffed, turning away from the two and handing her ticket to the attendant. "I hope you two are happy together."  
  
"A lot happier than I would have been with you," Daemon replied coolly.  
  
"This is the wrong port for your ticket," the attendant interrupted.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're heading for Chicago, please head to dock port 9."  
  
"Hmp!" Amy growled as she pushed her way past Daemon and the brunette.  
  
The dark haired teenage boy handed his ticket to the flight attendant.  
  
"I'm Daemon Zero, what's your name?" Daemon thanked the attendant as she handed Daemon back his ticket. The girl stepped forward and handed the woman hers.  
  
"Thanks," the girl said to the attendant. "I'm Melody Starr." The two headed into the quiet lane towards the plane.  
  
"Why are you on your way to Ankara?"  
  
"Terrorists are after me," Melody whispered.  
  
"Who? Why?" Daemon whispered back, frowning.  
  
"I know about a secret plan of the 'X', a seemingly harmless organization."  
  
"Ha!" Daemon laughed, "harmless indeed. What is it you know?"  
  
"Don't ask me that, please."  
  
"If it's any consolidation, they're after my life as well."  
  
"May I ask why?"  
  
"I'm involved with the G-Alloids."  
  
"You mean the kids that are a mix between humans and the Gundams?" Melody's eyebrows went up.  
  
"Yea."  
  
"That's why they're after me! I know the location of the sixth one!"  
  
"SIX!?" Daemon whispered fiercely, stopping before they reached the plane. "There's a sixth?!"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Which Gundam?"  
  
"Shining Gundam."  
  
"But he's dead!.Isn't he?"  
  
Melody smiled, "I can tell you really are involved if you know the sixth is a boy."  
  
"The Deathscythe G-Alloid was a friend of his."  
  
"That's why I'm going to Ankara, so I can head for Greece."  
  
"He's still in Greece?"  
  
"Never left."  
  
"That MUST be why she's heading there," Daemon muttered under his breath.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Trio."  
  
"Oh. She might be heading there for another reason, Daemon."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"There's a spaceport in Greece."  
  
"Good Gundam! That's EXACTLY where she's heading!" Daemon started to bolt for the plane.  
  
"Daemon," Melody spoke, grabbing his arm, "what exactly is your connection to all this?"  
  
"Um."  
  
"Daemon, we know both of us are involved in this; so if you tell me, maybe I can be of more assistance. I haven't told you everything."  
  
"Melody, I don't know if I can tell you just yet."  
  
"DAEMON ZERO! I've told you I'M involved and that in itself is a danger for ME to say. Please, I need to know."  
  
"I.I'm the leader of the G-Alloids."  
  
Melody gasped, letting go of Daemon's arm. "You're the Wing Zero G- Alloid?!"  
  
"I'm afraid so," Daemon replied, his head sagging down.  
  
"That's great!" Melody's face shone. "Now that you mention it, I can see your resemblance to Heero Yuy."  
  
"Huh?" Daemon blinked.  
  
"Do you have proof?" Melody asked, skeptically.  
  
"Of course!" Daemon replied, undoing a few buttons and slipping his left arm out of sleeve.  
  
Daemon was suddenly struck with a feeling of concern. 'Why am I showing this girl I just met the darkest secret I possess? What if she's the enemy?'  
  
'She's been infused with Gundaniam Alloy, but she failed to develop properly. I just picked up the signal.'  
  
'You sure?'  
  
'If I'm wrong, blame me.'  
  
'That's still not very convincing.'  
  
'She's cute isn't she? I think she likes you.'  
  
'Wing! That's not got anything to do with it.'  
  
'I promise you, she's safe.'  
  
"Thanks pal," Daemon muttered sarcastically.  
  
"Who are you talking to?" Melody asked, looking around.  
  
"Wing Zero. He has just informed me that you're an undeveloped G-Alloid."  
  
For a moment Melody froze, like a deer caught in the middle of the road. "You really are a G-Alloid," Melody gaped at Daemon. "No one knows that. At least, no one USED to know that."  
  
"Then do I need to show you my back?"  
  
Melody laughed, "No, I believe you."  
  
"Than let's get on the plane before it takes off."  
  
"Please climb into the plane, it's almost time to leave," the flight attendant came up behind the two.  
  
"We were just about to do that, Miss," Daemon politely informed the woman as he gingerly took Melody's arm and walked toward his friends, who had sat at the back of the plane.  
  
"Who you got NOW?" Shiro asked.  
  
"An underdeveloped G-Alloid," the G-Alloid leader whispered.  
  
"WHAT?!" Jerome screeched, standing up. A few people on the plane turned back towards Jerome and hushed him. Glaring and red in the face, Jerome sat down and leaned his face between the seats. "What do you mean?"  
  
"She was given just Gundaniam Alloy and she didn't develop enough for 'X' to be concerned with her, until now."  
  
"Want to join us?" Alex asked nicely.  
  
"If it'll keep me out of their clutches, I'd be happy to," Melody replied, smiling at her 'Knight in shining armor', Daemon. 


	42. Run In

AN: *looks at 'Quatre Winner'* I'll update for the sugar.  
  
Trio coughed when the cloud of dust reached her. Swinging her head side-to- side she made her best effort to clear the tiny particles away from her head.  
  
"Do you like to find dusty places or is this just a coincidence?" Shinna, who was standing next to Trio, muttered.  
  
"Look, it's not my fault," Aka argued as he shoved an old piece of wood to the side, "it's not like I'm WILLINGLY coming along."  
  
"Same here," was the Chinese girl's reply.  
  
"Why did we even agree to bring Aka along?" Trey asked dazedly.  
  
"If I recall correctly," Trio snapped, "it was me or him. Now shut up and knock it off. I'm sick of having you guys fighting. It's not like Nekura gave us a whole bunch of choices. Besides, there's a difference between Aka and Nekura and it's not fair that you take it out on Aka. He's doing the best he can."  
  
"But why are we wasting around Ankara? We could have left four days ago!" Shinna shoved her hands in the air and screamed when her hands encountered spider webs.  
  
"With the newest addition to our crew, who is wingless, we seem to need to find something sturdy with which to carry him."  
  
"We could just find a crappy net," Shinna muttered again.  
  
"And if I fall, I'm taking whoever is closest with me," Nekura spoke up.  
  
"Shut up and stay in your nether world, Nekura." Trey finally snapped. "It's your fault we've had to deal with this anyway."  
  
"Fine, I'll shut up," Nekura shrugged. "But I was about to tell you there's a net over in the corner of this room. It's brand new so it'll be sturdy enough."  
  
"And how do you know that?" Shinna inquired.  
  
Nekura turned around and slapped Shinna across the face before any of the G- Alloids could react.  
  
"How many times," Nekura snarled, "do I have to tell you to NEVER ask where I get my information from?!" Nekura turned around with a scowl and promptly walked over to the dustiest corner imaginable.  
  
"See?" He smirked, holding up a not-so-dusty bag containing a heavy duty fishing net and a blanket, for the others to see.  
  
"So why didn't the person who left it here leave it here earlier?" Trio asked quietly, lest she anger Nekura.  
  
"Trio," Nekura growled, "you're getting a little close to the line..."  
  
"Nekura," Trio growled back just as fierce, "I thought we had an agreement that you'd stay in your nether world. You're here, Aka's not. That's a problem. Thanks for the net, but you've outworn your welcome."  
  
"Well fine," Nekura sniffled, "I guess I'll just leave." Nekura's face went slack and a second later Aka's confused face returned to his body.  
  
"What.what happened?" He asked Trio, who had grabbed the bag away from Nekura.  
  
"You're other personality decided to come out and threaten us again, and show us where this darn net he's been searching for is."  
  
"Really? That's great! I mean, about the net. We've been wasting time here."  
  
"If you ask me," Trio replied, "I think he was waiting for something."  
  
"Like what?" Shinna asked, heading back towards the door and dust-less area was.  
  
"Why would he have to wait 4 days to leave?"  
  
"Let's not debate that now. Anaka's probably waiting for us. It's about lunch time."  
  
"Why don't we stop in the market place and grab her a surprise?" Trey asked.  
  
"Trey!" Shinna exclaimed, "that's a great idea! She's been wanting a new necklace!"  
  
"I know a perfect store!" Aka interjected.  
  
"If it takes us more than ten minutes to get there we're heading home," Shinna sneered.  
  
"I've got an idea," Trio interrupted, trying to avoid another confrontation between Shinna and Nekura, "why don't you two go back to Anaka's and Aka and I will go get a gift?"  
  
"Fine with me," Shinna sniffed.  
  
* * * * "How about we split up? None of the guard has seen the "foreigners who helped clean up the market place" leave yet."  
  
"Fine, you three go that way and us three will go this way."  
  
"Why all the adults going that way? And why isn't HE coming with us?"  
  
"Cause you two can't stop arguing for more than two seconds!  
  
"Then why is Melody coming with us?"  
  
"Quit asking questions, she needs to talk to Trio, and she seems to think you'll find her."  
  
"Fine. We'll call you if we hear or see anything about them."  
  
* * * * "How's the pickup doing, Nekura?"  
  
"We've picked up the package. They're getting antsy about having to wait 4 days."  
  
"It's not like that net was easy to find. Besides, this'll give us more time to organize our attack once they reach Greece."  
  
"Will we have any complications before then?"  
  
"Our contacts have informed us that Jerome Hawk and a few others involved have disappeared from our tracking."  
  
"You're trackers LOST them?"  
  
"Yes, they were careless. Needless to say, they won't make the same mistakes again."  
  
"Hmm knowing you, probably not."  
  
"Keep an eye out for Jerome and his crew."  
  
"Who's with him?"  
  
"Duo, a boy, who will look like Quatre, named Alex, a boy, who should look like Heero, named Daemon and Shiro Kai."  
  
"SHIRO KAI?! What's HE doing with them!?"  
  
"He's a traitor."  
  
"I understand. I'll keep an eye out for them."  
  
"Good." 


	43. Worlds Clash, Caught!

-AN: I'm sorry if the last chapter confused anyone, there were suppose to be lines between the different conversations, but as you could tell, there wasn't any. -Chapter 43 was redone so as to account Melody and to fix the lack of spacer lines, so to make it easier to read, go back and read the last part of the fic! -In celebration of my 100th review I'm writing a 5-page chapter! Thanks to all my loyal readers! -Hi my sister who's not hogging the TV *cheesy grin* Have fun! Love ya! (sorry guys, need to make my sister feel important, not that she isn't..hehe..eh.*sweatdrop* as once said by a friend *puts foot in mouth*) -If you are interested, on my website I will soon be posting (lame) ideas of what the remotes look like (to prevent confusion of the author). If you are interested in what they look like, let me know. If not, I'll just keep it to myself. -BTW, while I'm at it, are there any good artists in my pool of readers? I would like someone to draw the G-Alloids, but me, I draw stick figures *draws lame stick figure* Again, if you're interested, say so in your review or directly email me, an author always loves emails (who doesn't?) *pleading, cheesy grin* ********* "Aka! Hurry!" Trio giggled ridiculously as she pulled the smiling boy behind her. "We won't get any food if we're slow!"  
  
"Okay, okay, we'll hurry!"  
  
"He doesn't count! He's only using up space."  
  
"Trio, slow down!" Trio let go and Aka bent in half, breathing heavily in front of the market place entrance. "Don't forget that just because you're part machine doesn't mean I am!"  
  
"D.H. isn't even on! I'm running on pure energy!" Trio beamed.  
  
"Hehehe, and you would."  
  
"Let's go," Trio begged, pulling gently.  
  
"All right, now I can breathe."  
  
"Great!" Trio exclaimed happily, walking forward.  
  
"LOOK OUT!" Aka exclaimed, but it was too late, for Trio had run into the back of a boy, whom Aka didn't recognize, but Nekura did.  
  
******  
  
"I've sighted Shiro and Alex. There's an unknown girl with them."  
  
"Good work, Nekura, keep close, don't leave Trio's side for a moment, take over if you must."  
  
"This Aka is a pest, why can't I just get rid of him?"  
  
"Because without a host the parasite dies."  
  
Nekura mentally shrugged, "Fair enough."  
  
******  
  
"Oh!" Trio apologized, as she bowed, "I'm so sorry! I'll watch where I'm going next time."  
  
"It's okay, really," The boy mumbled, turning to face her. He gasped when he took in her bowed head and dirty face. "TRIO!"  
  
"Huh?" Trio brought her head up and took in a quick breath once her vision settled on the boy.  
  
"Shiro? What's wrong?" Alex's head popped around the side of his friend and immediately sparkled with happiness. "Hi!"  
  
"Trio? Are you Trio?" A brunette quietly asked, stepping out from behind Shiro. When Trio didn't answer, the girl grabbed Shiro's arm, pulled him close to her and whispered in his ear. Trio's eyes grew small and echoed with jealousy.  
  
"Trio," Aka said, stepping to her side and gently grabbing her arm, "Let's go." Trio involuntarily took a step back, anger and hurt clearly visible in her eyes. Shiro, who had been listening to the girl suddenly cocked his head straight back up and looked at the girl.  
  
"Now I admit you were right about us finding her, but Trio's not in any danger." Turning back to Trio with a smile he noticed Aka and frowned. "Who's your new friend, Trio?"  
  
"I'd like to ask you the same thing," Trio retorted.  
  
Shiro glanced back at Alex who first nodded, then frowned. Shaking his blonde head he looked at Trio.  
  
"Didn't you turn on your cell?"  
  
"Cell?" Trio frowned, then catching the irritatingly lame lead, nodded and reached into her back pocket, manipulated the remote and pushed the ON/OFF button. Succeeding fairly quickly, she nodded again. "Sorry I forgot."  
  
'Trio! How could you do that? Running away I mean.'  
  
'Simple, I wasn't about to let Shinna run away on her own and Wufei deserved it!'  
  
'Nobody deserves that!'  
  
'Really? Do you know what we overheard him say?' When Alex just looked guiltily at Trio, she continued, 'Then don't be saying that he didn't deserve it! We don't have the same ideas of justice as you do.'  
  
'Trio, please, come back.'  
  
'Who's the girl?'  
  
'An underdeveloped G-Alloid. Her name is Melody. Who's.'  
  
"Trio, are you going to answer me?" Shiro frowned.  
  
"Huh?" Trio asked blankly, before snapping back to reality. "What question?"  
  
"I asked who that boy was with you?"  
  
"Trio," Aka, or more acutely, Nekura whispered, "let's go, now." A sharp point pushed into Trio's side. Anger and pain flared her mind and she whipped around, grabbing the knife in the process and slapping Nekura against the wall.  
  
"You're an idiot to think that that trick will work every time, Nekura!" Trio growled with menace dripping from her voice, "go back to your personal hell."  
  
"You'll pay for that, Trio."  
  
"I'm aware of that, but in the process I want you to realize this: When we go into our G-Alloid mode we could kill you if we chose to; be lucky I won't let them."  
  
Nekura scowled and with a growl returned to his netherworld and Aka's pained face returned.  
  
"I'm sorry Aka, are you okay?" Trio, her voice now full of concern and remorse as she leaned down, dropping the knife by Melody's feet.  
  
"Trio," Aka whimpered, "What happened? It feels like I just hit by one of those big trucks I see going down the road!"  
  
"I'm sorry," Trio replied, "but that Nekura seems to think he can drive me away from my friends."  
  
"I."  
  
"No," Trio shook her head, "don't try to apologize for him. You're not Nekura, and only Nekura can say he's sorry for what he's done, and we both know that won't happen."  
  
"Trio!" Shiro cried out in an exasperated tone, "would you PLEASE tell me what the hell is going on?" Alex paled at Shiro's language.  
  
"Shiro, don't swear!"  
  
"Can you be quiet for a minute, please?" Shiro replied, not taking his eyes off Trio, who was helping Aka up.  
  
"Trio, what just happened? Who is this?"  
  
"His name is Aka. I think he's got a case of MPD. His other personality has a tendency to be a little demanding."  
  
"Trio." Shiro whispered as Alex, worked his way around the people still trying to get in and out of the market place, helped lift Aka off Trio's shoulder. "Trio, why did you just leave me like that?"  
  
"There's time to discuss that once I eat lunch, fiancée."  
  
"FINACEE?!" Aka and Melody exclaimed at once.  
  
Trio and Shiro blinked, "And you didn't know that?"  
  
"You never said you were going to get married!" Aka exclaimed, then winced.  
  
"I never knew you even had a GIRLFRIEND!" Melody added, grasping the silver necklace at her throat.  
  
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Shiro said calmly, clutching Trio's hand as they headed away from the market and towards Anaka's, "but I was more preoccupied with finding her."  
  
"Call Jerome," Alex chided Melody.  
  
"No!" Trio jumped.  
  
"Why not?" Alex questioned, "he's very concerned for you."  
  
"I," Trio's face took on a confused look, yet she knew why. The others sped up a little to give the two some room to talk.  
  
"She's still planning on leaving," Shiro sadly explained loud enough that the others could hear. "And we can't do anything to stop her."  
  
"Shiro!" Trio exclaimed, "don't say it like that!" Lowering her voice, she added, "It's not just that."  
  
"Then what is it?" Shiro whispered back. Glaring at the others, who were trying to listen, he squeezed Trio's hand.  
  
"I don't know, a feeling like, the hand of destiny, gently pushing me towards my destination."  
  
"Which is Greece right?"  
  
"How, how did you guess that?"  
  
"Melody told me you might head there."  
  
"And what would SHE know about it?"  
  
"The 'X' has suddenly taken an interest in its 'loose ends'. Melody is not only a loose end, but she's got a few pieces of information they don't want you to find out."  
  
"What are you talking about? What does she know?"  
  
"Daemon told me."  
  
"Daemon?! Crap!" Trio reached into her pocket, pulled out her remote and was about to push ON/OFF when she heard a voice, 'I've already got a lock on you, Trio.'  
  
'Damn you, Daemon.'  
  
'Don't blame Alex, he was trying to protect our privacy. And be nice to my girlfriend, I don't want her to think that the G-Alloids are a bunch of snobs.'  
  
'Girlfriend? Melody? Melody AGREED to be your girlfriend? I haven't know her for that long but I didn't think she'd agree to go out with YOU.'  
  
'Hey!' Daemon coughed, 'I haven't exactly asked her yet.'  
  
"Typical guy." Trio pushed the button that severed the connection but left her G-Alloid side on just in case Nekura gave them any more trouble in the near future.  
  
"What was that about?"  
  
"They don't need to call Jerome, Daemon knows where I am."  
  
"I can stand on my own now, thank you," Shiro could hear Aka talking to Melody. Trio could sense that while Nekura was in his netherworld, he was still feeling Trio's vicious reprimand.  
  
"You sure you're okay?" Melody replied. "She whacked you pretty darn hard."  
  
"Thank you for your concern, but I haven't got a concussion."  
  
"How did you run into him?"  
  
"I was attacked after getting separated from the others, he saw me transform and he knew of a place where I could be healed."  
  
"Healed? What for?"  
  
"I got cut pretty badly in the fight." Shiro grunted his understanding. "How did you guys meet Melody?"  
  
"On the way to the airport Daemon met this, pardon my language, slut named Amy who thought to but into our engagement business and Melody told Amy that it wasn't Daemon's business and on their way into the plane."  
  
"Daemon and Melody right?"  
  
"Right, Daemon found out Melody was running from the 'X'. She's been with us since."  
  
"Oh," Trio mumbled. She chided herself for thinking Shiro was with Melody even thought she knew he was more loyal than that.  
  
"Isn't there anything I can do for you?"  
  
"I don't mean for this to sound rude, but I want anyone who came with you here to stay out of our way. Until I find out why I feel the sudden urge to go to Greece I don't want you to interfere."  
  
"You want to escape from my father don't you? You think he'll follow me don't you." The last sentence was more of a statement than a question.  
  
"We can't keep running from him, sooner or later we'll have to face him," Trio looked into Shiro's eyes. "But it's not the time. We will face him and I'm afraid that."  
  
"You're afraid I'll betray you."  
  
"That's not the main reason, but that has plagued my sleep."  
  
"Then what is?"  
  
"He tried to kill you remember? His own son! I don't want either of us to die, or any of the others, but."  
  
"You think he may have to die don't you?" Shiro whispered.  
  
"I'm afraid he might my love."  
  
"Well," Shiro stopped and smiled, "we'll just have to cross that bridge when we get there." He leaned down and kissed the slightly surprised Trio on the lips.  
  
'That bridge is closer than you think,' Nekura thought to himself. 'Much closer.' 


	44. A Dream of a Past Face

AN: Posted from review by Quatre Winner "Getting better! All the G-Alloids are together again, huh?" *raises eyebrows* are you implying it wasn't good before? *laughs* jk. And now that you mention it, yea, they are all together..or are they? *eyes twinkle*  
  
DREAM SEQUENCE (since I have very limited ways to show it as such ^_^)  
  
Trio was running like the minions of hell were chasing her. Her breath was coming in short gasping breaths and she couldn't seem to catch her breath. Kai, or what Trio felt in her heart was as great of a threat, was right on her tail and activating D.H. didn't seem to register in her mind as an option. She ran into a park, weaving through the trees, hoping to lose her pursuer, but no such luck was with her. As Trio reached a meadow, a bright, piercing light shot down from the sky and lit up a dark brown-haired young man who appeared from the middle of the light. His ebony black eyes, which were previously closed, opened as the light dimmed down from a blinding white to a shining gold color.  
  
"Who's there?" The boy inquired as the light restricted itself to the boy's immediate vicinity and highlighted his butterfly-like wings that flapped and shone with the golden light. His gaze, however, did not land on Trio. It fell to the presence behind her. "Who are you that chases my friend? Who is it that frightens her so?"  
  
"I carry on my life with two names," a voice, male, replied, "but your friend will know me as Nekura."  
  
'Nekura,' Trio's blood froze.  
  
"And why do you chase my friend?"  
  
"I have my own reasons, but she will not escape me, nor my master, who through his grace I live."  
  
"Hm," The boy lowered his head in thought, "why would your master need to chase her all over the globe? She did nothing to anger him."  
  
"Her very presence in this world are like an open wound in my master's side."  
  
"I see," he nodded, raising his gaze to Trio. Trio stared back, not being able to take her blue eyes off his black ones. Something registered in the back of her mind. She knew this boy, but he had looked a lot different then. He had been younger, naïve, and bolder.  
  
"Kamui? Kamui is that you?"  
  
"A little older, Trio, and a little wiser."  
  
"But, but, you died, you died!" Trio cried out. "How? How?"  
  
Kamui's soft laugh filled the void of fear in Trio's heart. "You don't seem to be too happy about it."  
  
"Happy?" Trio's eyes filled with tears and she smiled. "My best friend, killed in a train 'accident'. He died in his father's arms. They told me first."  
  
"Whoever told you, was misinformed, on purpose."  
  
"What?" Trio frowned.  
  
"Enough!" Nekura snarled, leaping for Trio. "No one else will interfere!" Trio screamed as his blade, now a sword fell towards her neck.  
  
END DREAM SEQUENCE  
  
.And Trio woke screaming, waking Aka and Shiro, who slept nearby.  
  
"Trio?" Shiro asked groggily. "Are you okay?"  
  
"What's wrong?" Aka's worried face appeared from behind Shiro.  
  
"Trio?" Trey and Shinna appeared at the doorway.  
  
"I'm...I'm fine," Trio mumbled. "I just a bad dream."  
  
"Wanna talk about it since we're all awake now?" Shinna muttered.  
  
Glancing at Aka, Trio shook her head, "No it's okay. I'm not going to bother you guys anymore than I already have."  
  
"Come on," Aka persisted (Trio guessed at Nekura's insistence).  
  
"No," Trio shook her head.  
  
***** "I wonder why they didn't come back?" Jerome pondered, asking Duo as he moved his checker piece (which had been furnished by their hotel) to a location where he could jump a pawn.  
  
"Jerome, didn't you listen to Daemon?" Duo's nearby piece jumped Jerome's trap.  
  
Jerome frowned and moved another pawn into place then snickered. "Since when do I listen to that kid?"  
  
"Since he said they found them." Duo moved his pawn away from Jerome's recent move.  
  
Jerome's brow sunk a little, "Really? When was that?"  
  
"I don't remember the exact time, but Daemon said he got a lock on her while she was using the C.L."  
  
"C.L.?"  
  
"Abbreviation of 'Communication Line'." Daemon nodded before setting off his newest trap and jumping Duo's, much to his disgust.  
  
"We'll just have to call them in the morning." Jerome mumbled. Duo nodded. ***** "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Shiro whispered.  
  
"You're still awake?" Trio whispered back. Shiro responded by scooting so close to her he could wrap his arms around her, which he did. Trio blushed but did nothing to hinder his advance, since they were going to be married someday.  
  
"I noticed you didn't tell us about your dream because of Aka," Shiro bent low, his warm lips touching Trio's left ear.  
  
"You...you noticed?" Trio stammered.  
  
"I'm pretty observant, ya know."  
  
"Well. Your observation is correct, and not correct. I didn't tell you my dream because, not Aka, but Nekura, could be listening and if he found out what I dreamt about he might tell whoever is telling him about us."  
  
"You think he's awake?"  
  
"Aka may be awake, but Nekura might not be, I can't be sure."  
  
"Why are you leaving?" Shiro hugged Trio close. Trio squirmed until she was facing Shiro.  
  
"And why are you changing the subject so much?"  
  
"A lot of things have been on my mind is all."  
  
Hugging him close, Trio replied, "Yes, I do. It's not a runway's plan now. That dream I had confirms it."  
  
"Can't you tell me anything?" Shiro whispered fiercely.  
  
Leaning close, close enough Shiro blushed and thought she'd kiss him, Trio whispered "A face, from the past and a face of the present."  
  
"That's not helpful," Shiro chided.  
  
"It's all I can say," Trio replied, cuddling against Shiro's chest. "Maybe you can keep me safe for tonight but I'm leaving tomorrow and I can't and WON'T take you."  
  
"But there's got to be something I can do to protect you, something to help!"  
  
"There is," Trio replied, closing her eyes, "stay with me tonight. And return to the Sanc kingdom tomorrow. Don't leave until I return."  
  
"I..I don't want to, Trio, but I will promise you anyway I will return and await your return to my arms."  
  
"Shh...we don't want to wake anyone, good night."  
  
'She'll never come back,' Nekura thought, deep in his dark abyss. 'It's my job to make sure of that.' 


	45. Preparations to Leave Turkey

AN: The Kamui in my story has nothing to do with Kamui from X/1999 (pointed out by Mikae) I just liked that name is all. He may LOOK like Kamui Shirou but it was unintentional. He has his reasons for looking like he does. And it was also pointed out that Aka was like Bakura. That was also unintentional, but not unwelcome.hehe..Aritatou, Read on.  
  
"Trio?" Shinna said, poking her head outside and into the rising sun's light. Squinting, she repeated her inquiry, "Trio? Shiro? Alex? Melody?Where are you?"  
  
"Leave us, Shinna. And keep Aka in the kitchen."  
  
"All right, but breakfast is ready, then we're leaving."  
  
"Hm, okay, just give me a minute." Trio looked from one injured face to another. Shiro had a slightly puffy eye, Trio guess he'd cried sometime during the night, and held a straight face. Alex's face shown with worry and a small hint of the old Alex; his face had a miniscule amount of anger. Melody's face was the most controversial of them all, for her face held a small smile.  
  
"You know now don't you?" She whispered. "You know why I came here?" At Trio's nod she continued, "My obligation is fulfilled."  
  
"But I'm afraid you can never go back, Melody."  
  
"Why's that?" She frowned.  
  
"Because if the 'X' is truly on your tail so speak then it would only endanger your life to return to Greece."  
  
"Do you think he would mind if I didn't come back?"  
  
"I'm sure he would understand if I told him I made you stay with people who could protect you. He might be sad about that, but he'll be grateful you're okay."  
  
"You sure? He's changed since you knew him."  
  
"He won't kill me so I'm not worried what he thinks when it comes to the safety of others. I feel you'd be safer with more people in the same boat, not just one or two."  
  
"I hope he agrees."  
  
"Uh, guys?" Alex interjected, "What are you talking about?"  
  
"An old friend."  
  
"Another G-Alloid?" Shiro asked.  
  
"He's an old friend, just leave it at that." Trio smiled and grasped Shiro and Alex's hands. "Now let's go eat, then you must leave."  
  
"Can I talk to you for just a second?" Shiro asked.  
  
Trio blushed, "Okay, you two go ahead. Don't say a word about anything we said right here, even to Shinna or Trey. They'll have to ask me later." The two teens left with a nod, leaving the engaged couple alone on the side street.  
  
"What is it, Shiro?"  
  
"I'm going to ask again."  
  
"And I'm going to end again, no, you will not come and I cannot stay. I have more reasons now to go."  
  
"Who is this guy you and Melody are talking about?"  
  
"His name is Kamui, that's all I can say."  
  
"Kamui, that's an odd name."  
  
"Yes, it may be, but I've made up my mind, please quit trying to change it. Just go back and wait for me."  
  
"I made you a promise last night that I would go back and wait for however long it takes for you to return, and I mean to keep that promise."  
  
"Thank you, it means a lot to me."  
  
"Come on, let's go eat. You need your strength."  
  
Trio laughed as Shiro tugged her back into the house. Inside almost everyone had eaten, leaving only the smallest pancakes and crispiest pieces of bacon left. Fortunately for Trio these were her favorites. No one spoke as the rest of breakfast was consumed. Even Anaka was silent for she sensed that there was sadness and tension among them.  
  
Bite after bite went into the teenager's mouths but as Trio ate she thought. 'Kamui, you were dead last time I checked, why didn't you tell me you were alive? Is it you that sends this feeling of calling? Are you in danger again? Will my coming be a danger? Can you protect me from the demons that chase me?'  
  
A tinkling of laughter rang out from the alleyway, shocking Trio out of her trance. She looked down at her plate and to her disgust, there was no food left. The food had been delicious, but she'd zoned out and missed the great meal even though she had been the one eating it.  
  
Looking around, she discovered the others had been done for some time and had been looking around the room waiting for her. Trio sighed inwardly, wishing that the time of peace could continue but knowing otherwise.  
  
"I'm afraid we must all be going," Trio said, shattering the silence that had settled. "We've lingered too long." Trio threw a knowing but angry glance at Aka. Nekura responded with a scowl. Shiro, who had been watching Aka blinked and rubbed his eyes.  
  
"Thank you for your hospitality, Anaka," Trey added, bowing.  
  
"Yes, thank you," Shinna said as both her and Trio bowed.  
  
Anaka bowed back. "It's been a pleasure to have company. But I do have to ask you something, Trio."  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
A puppy-like look passed Anaka's face, "Can I have that shirt you're wearing?"  
  
"This?" Trio asked, looking down at her dark blue shirt.  
  
"It's beautiful...please?"  
  
Trio smiled, "All right, I'll go switch shirts."  
  
"While you're doing that, Trio," Shinna interrupted, "is it okay if Trey and I step outside?"  
  
A confused look crossed Trio's face, "Of course but why?"  
  
Shinna blushed, "A private moment I guess."  
  
"I'm not going to stop you," Trio nodded before following Anaka down the small hallway to the back room, which was hers.  
  
"Why such a silly request?" Trey asked.  
  
"ACK!" Shinna screeched. "SILLY?!"  
  
"Okay, I'm sorry, that was mean."  
  
"Darn right it was. Come on, let's go outside," Shinna grabbed Trey's hand and led him to the front porch outside the door.  
  
Shinna turned to Trey, a look of happiness in her eyes. Trey raised his eyebrow.  
  
"You okay? You've been acting strange lately."  
  
Shinna cocked her head. "I guess it has been kinda strange, my attitude, but I just couldn't wait to give this to you." From behind Shinna's back came a small box wrapped with green ribbon.  
  
"I found it in the market place the other day and I just HAD to get it for you!"  
  
Trey stuttered, "W.when did you have the time to do this?"  
  
"You'd be surprised!" Shinna winked. "Now open it!"  
  
Trey took the package and turned it side to side. No noise. He pulled gently on the ribbon, which fell into his hand easily; he put it in his pocket for later. He lifted the lid carefully and was surprised to see." 


	46. Departure and Tears

AN: Arigatou Gozaimasu to Yukari and Ookami for the ideas I needed!!!  
  
.A little lion perfectly carved into a small piece of ivory attached to a pin. Trey stared at the piece of wonder. He noticed that below the pin was a slip of paper and slipped his hand underneath and picked it up.  
  
"Stay brave for the lion is a sign of bravery," It said with a calligrapher font. Trey turned it over and saw Shinna's name written on the back in the same font and he noted it was not Tana Suzuki, it was Shinna Ling.  
  
"So?" Shinna said, snapping Trey back to reality, "What do you think?" Trey continued to stare but now it was at Shinna, who began to look a little uncomfortable.  
  
Inside Trey's mind thoughts were racing like the speed of light. 'This is an incredible thing! I've got to be a gentleman and give her something in return, but what?! I got it! A way of finding out if she truly knows how much I care about her!'  
  
"Trey?" Shinna's face was worried and sad. "Don't you like it?"  
  
Instead of responding he carefully put the card below the pin again, put the lid on the box, and gently placed it in his pocket. Shinna's eyes began to fill with tears because she feared he did not like it. Trey simply smiled and he met her eyes and closed the two feet between them in a mer second. Shinna cocked her head sideways in confusion.  
  
"Trey?" Shinna whispered, looking up into the face of the man she was falling in love with, "What's wrong with you?"  
  
Trey reached down and cupped Shinna's left cheek in his. "Nothing." Trey moved his hand to the back of her head and reached his other around her waist. "You're perfect the way you are," he whispered and he closing his eyes, he gave her the first kiss of either of their lives.  
  
'My, first, kiss," Shinna thought, 'it's my first kiss and I'm just standing here!' Shinna reached her arms up and wrapped them around his head, pulling him closer.  
  
They stood there, embracing each other until they heard the door creak. The couple pulled apart and opened their eyes to reveal Trio and Shiro, hand in hand, staring in awe.  
  
"Uh, did we come at a bad time?" Trio blushed.  
  
"Uh, uh," Shinna blushed.  
  
"We're walking you guys to the city limits and when you take off, we'll leave, I promise," Shiro said. The other teens appeared behind them and they walked away from Anaka's house forever.  
  
The seven teenagers walked in pairs of two except Aka, who walked in front. The silence seemed to escalate as they walked. Even the people ahead of them could feel the sadness and determination of the teens and parted from in front of them. Young kids playing in the streets looked at them in awe because in their eyes, the teens carried a presence of complete authority and respect.  
  
Aka stopped and turned to Shiro and Trio, the first people behind him.  
  
"Which gate would you like to go to? We're closest to the south but the west would be more in our direction."  
  
"Well," Trio wondered, turning around to Shinna and Trey, "what do you two think?"  
  
Trey shifted the largest bag containing all their clothes and extra blankets. "Since I'm carrying the largest pack I'd say south."  
  
"Can't you handle it?" Trio asked.  
  
"Hey!" Trey replied nervously, "I never said that!"  
  
"I'd just as soon say we take the west gate. Less chances of us being seen right? It's going to be hard enough to get to Greece without being spotted."  
  
"Trio's right," Shinna added, "We need stealth and so be it if it takes us longer to get to the gate, it'll be closer to the end of the day when people will be asleep."  
  
Trey sighed, "Okay, I'm outnumbered, we'll go to the west gate. But," Trey's eyes squinted, "I think you're taking advantage of me being a man and using that as an extra excuse."  
  
Shinna gasped, "We would NEVER do that."  
  
"Um, Shinna, yea, yea we would."  
  
"Shh, you're not suppose to tell them that!" Trey almost face planted right there. "Oh, so sorry," Shinna waved her hand at him in a dismissing gesture, "It's okay, we can trade later."  
  
Trey blinked, "I'm afraid and sad to say that's not possible. It would hurt my pride if I allowed a woman to carry such a burden."  
  
"Aw," Trio cooed, "what a gentleman!"  
  
"Let's get going already!" Aka burst out. "It's going to get a lot hotter as the day goes on!"  
  
"What are you complaining about?" Shinna snapped, "you're not the one with the heavy load!"  
  
"It's NOT MY fault!"  
  
"You're right, it's not, but I'm still blaming you. It's easier to blame the cute one than blame the one who's a backstabbing little rat!"  
  
"We're not starting that again!" Trio snapped, "we're going to make this as painless as possible all right? It's not going to make anything any better by pissing Nekura off. He's crazy enough as it is and he'll take any opportunity to come out; don't give him any more chances."  
  
Aka started to walk, afraid of staying much longer and the others followed him. No one spoke but now it wasn't because they were preoccupied or calm it was because wounds had been reopened and all the G-Alloids leaving to Turkey were tense. The teens staying behind didn't want to make their counterparts angry so they decided it best to leave them alone.  
  
Melody couldn't help but feel sorry for the teenagers going to the spaceport in Greece. Melody didn't have any special powers yet she knew something was going to happen in Greece. That foreboding feeling kept her silent and she wished she had been able to talk to Trio more.  
  
Alex was worried about his friends. He knew that this was all foolishness, running away, but he knew it wasn't his place to try and stop them. He wished he could go with them but they now refused to let anyone else join their party. These three had a special bond now that they would not allow to be altered or broken in any way by any one.  
  
Shiro felt helpless as usual. The woman he loved was leaving again and he couldn't stop her. He knew she would come back, he felt that, but he was afraid. What if his father found her? Shiro had no clue what he would do to the Deathscythe G-Alloid. It scared him even worse when he realized he wouldn't be able to stop him from killing her if he so chose to.  
  
"Well, here it is," Aka said as they reached the west entrance/exit. The only thing officially marking the entrance/exit was a singular steel arch.  
  
"Well, Trio turned to Shiro, "I guess this is goodbye for now."  
  
"Don't I get a goodbye kiss?" Shiro teased.  
  
Trio blushed, "Shiro!"  
  
"Just kidding, relax," Shiro's demeanor turned serious. "But you must promise to be careful."  
  
"I promise."  
  
"And make sure to come back, okay?" Alex piped up.  
  
Trio couldn't help but smile, "I will, Alex, thank you."  
  
"Be careful you guys," Melody added her two bits.  
  
Trio nodded. Leaning towards Shiro she gave him a kiss on the cheek before nodding to the others and walking out the gate, not even waiting, not looking back. Trey and Shinna said their good-byes quickly and followed Aka and Trio.  
  
A few minutes later Aka and all the baggage was in the net and the G- Alloids were ready to leave. Bringing their wings out into the open (after Trio had switched her shirt), Trio couldn't help but shed a tear. The closer she got to her goal the more afraid she got.  
  
With Trio on the back part of the net and Shinna and Trey at the top part (think triangle) the three determined teenagers lifted off on their final leg of the journey to Greece. 


	47. Touchdown in Greece

AN: I was in Idaho from 18th-26th and this is what I wrote on a piece of paper (okay, many pieces) during that time.  
  
The G-Alloids hadn't said more than two dozen words to each other as their second to last day of flying ended. Aka had slept the majority of the day; he only woke twice, once of which was to mutter about the bags smashing into his head when crosswinds assaulted the flying teens and the other was to hand out bite sized turkey sandwiches. Trio and Aka only ate one while Trey and Shinna nearly inhaled the rest.  
  
Trio had suggested the teenagers stop for the night before flying over the Mediterranean Sea. Shinna for one had been grateful for the stop because they had been flying slowly all day but they also had extra cargo.  
  
The three tired flyers made camp on the scar of the beach as the sun set. They quickly fell asleep, still in their tattered shirts. Aka offered to keep watch since he had slept almost all day. Shinna muttered an insult and had nearly started a brawl with Nekura. Trey's patience had finally reached the end and he, not Trio for once, had snapped at the two bickerers.  
  
As morning dawned the three rested teens woke to a fish breakfast. Aka was whistling happily as he handed the smoked fish-on-a-stick to his waking comrades. Trio hated fish and opted out, instead heading for a quick drink of creek water before it flowed into the sea.  
  
After numerous tries Aka finally gave up trying to get Trio to eat. She apologized for her rudeness but would not touch the delicious fish; Shinna and Trey, however, enjoyed the food.  
  
It was an hour after dawn before the triangle of G-Alloids lifted off.  
  
Two hours into their leisurely flight Trey noticed Trio (who was carrying the left corner) was drooping. Her black wings were sweatier than his or Shinna's.  
  
'Hey Shinna,' Trey spoke through the communication line, 'what's wrong with Trio? She looks kinda sick.'  
  
'I asked her about that a few minutes ago. She's sad about leaving again and she's kinda hungry too.'  
  
'It's got nothing to do with Shiro.'  
  
'You're perceptive,' Trio interrupted, 'now I'd appreciate if you two would quit talking about me.'  
  
'Trio, you look sick!'  
  
'I'm fine, I just can't get a good grip.'  
  
'Quit lying! You're not eating or drinking hardly everything.' Trio refused an answer. Trey frowned and began flapping his wings harder. Shinna and Trio looked at him in surprise at the hastening of the pace.  
  
'We're wasting time,' was Trey's explanation.  
  
As the next hour progressed Trio began to lag behind even farther. Shinna was beginning to worry about her friend until she saw the rocky shore.  
  
'There it is!' Shinna exclaimed. Trio wearily looked up and smiled.  
  
'At last.'  
  
'We'll land on the shore, change and then head for the closest legal food source,' Trey informed the others.  
  
'Sounds like a plan!' A hungry Shinna replied.  
  
A few minutes and near drops later, the three teens landed, tiredly dropping their sleeping cargo.  
  
"OUCH! What's with the rude awakening?" Aka looked around and saw the rocky beach. "I see we've arrived."  
  
"Yea, we're in Greece," Trio replied groggily.  
  
"That is," Shinna joked, "if Trey didn't lose his direction."  
  
"I," acting offended the Heavyarms G-Alloid replied, "would never." Trio laughed half-heartedly.  
  
"Let's change our shirts and get going, it's still pretty early," Trio spoke. Aka looked at her and frowned but didn't comment.  
  
Trio smiled and closed her eyes. She touched the wing awareness in her mind and requested they become the nearly invisible six-inch tattoos on her back. The Deathscythe's personality chip responded with a gentle nudge of concern (or maybe warning) as the wings folded up and quickly disappeared.  
  
"Which bag are the shirts in?" Shinna asked as she was picking up the bags from the middle of the net.  
  
"The big black duffel bag," Aka informed her.  
  
"How would you know?" Shinna eyed him.  
  
Aka (not Nekura) glared and let out an unusually angry retort, "You get whacked by those bags for a day and a half THEN see if you can't tell which is which."  
  
"Tell me then, Aka, what's in the bags?" Trey smiled at his prod.  
  
Aka smirked back, "Clothes and blankets in the black duffel, money, flashlights, batteries and hygiene in the red backpack and food in the brown bag."  
  
"He's good," Shinna whispered to Trey who muttered an answer and helped Shinna lift the bags out of the net. He proceeded to lift a medium sized white bag out of the black duffel bag and with Trio's help (almost a burden) they folded the net and slipped it into the purse-like bag.  
  
*****  
  
"Who will carry what?" Aka asked as the G-Alloids returned from changing their shirts behind some big rocks.  
  
"You'll carry the food, Trio the net, Shinna the valuables and I'll take the duffel bag. Aka, why don't you go find a road?" Aka nodded and took off.  
  
Returning five minutes later, Aka picked up his bag and offered to walk alongside Trio until they reached the road. When questioned about this all he would reply was that this was now Trio's quest and it was only fitting she lead. With a glare (or two) the teenagers set off, Aka supporting Trio was followed by Shinna and Trey (who were holding hands).  
  
No words were spoken until the road from the rocky beach reached a crossroad.  
  
"Which way?" Aka asked as he stepped away from Trio. Trio looked severely stressed and sicker than she had ten minutes before.  
  
"I'll go ask that farmer," Trey said, leaving his bag at Trio's feet. He jogged up to a small tan man pulling weeds from a small garden next to a small white house.  
  
"Pardon me, Sir." Trey caught the man's attention.  
  
"Why, hello," the man replied, standing up, dusting off his pants and offering his earth covered hand to Trey. Trey took it and smiled.  
  
"My name is Matt and I was wondering which way was the space port at Athens?"  
  
"My! That, young Matt is a good half day's walk that way," he pointed to the northeast.  
  
Trey frowned, "That way.is.northeast! Wh.where are we?"  
  
"Piraievs, Greece, m'boy, where did you think you were?"  
  
Trey laughed nervously, "Well, sir, we were heading for the space port in Athens."  
  
"Where'd ya come from?"  
  
"Ankara, Turkey."  
  
"Well you missed," the old man laughed at his own joke.  
  
"Yea, well, thank you!" The men shook hands again and Trey rejoined his companions.  
  
"It's a half day walk that way," Trey pointed in the direction they had been walking.  
  
"Good!" Aka smiled, well? Lead on Trio."  
  
Trio was visibly sweating now but smiled and started walking anyway. Aka followed immediately while Trey and Shinna shared a worried look. Trio's condition just kept getting worse every minute.  
  
*****  
  
At about 1:30 p.m. the four tired teens stopped beside the road for lunch, which consisted of an apple, drink of water and a handful of almonds. Trey, Shinna and Aka had their lunch gone in less than five minutes. Trio ate what was given to her slowly but without complaint (knowing that if she refused it would be shoved down her throat).  
  
The two boys laid upon the bags while Shinna paced. Trio had finished eating ten minutes previous but hadn't gotten up.  
  
Exasperated, Shinna said, "Trio! When are you getting up?" Trio momentarily closed her eyes.  
  
Opening them she replied, "I.I can't move my legs, or my arms. It's like I don't have them," Shinna lightly stepped on her leg. Trio's leg flinched. "OUCH!"  
  
"Not paralyzed," Shinna commented smugly.  
  
"We have GOT to get going. We'll run out of water and dehydrate if we sit here all day." Trey looked over at Aka, "mind giving her a piggy back ride?"  
  
Aka shrugged, "Yea, I guess I can." Trey nodded and got up, slipping the nearly empty food bag on his shoulder before picking up the duffel bag. Shinna picked up the valuables and the net while Aka gently but difficulty lifted Trio on his back.  
  
The group traveled a little faster now that Trio was being carried and hit small houses outside Athens in no time. A shuttle and a few planes flew overhead as the foursome slipped into a small restaurant inside the official "WELCOME TO ATHENS" sign on the side of the now car-filled street.  
  
The room was lightly filled and even then no one seemed to pay them any heed as they sat down, even the cashier. Trio insisted on sitting on the outside and limply stood while waiting for Aka to sit beside her. Trio slumped backwards after sipping the water from the cup sitting on the table.  
  
It didn't take long before a young black-haired man with an apron approached the table.  
  
"Welcome, here is our menu. Please take your time deciding." He handed Aka and Shinna their menus. Trio's eyes popped open as a look of surprise and excitement registered on her face. As quickly as her body could muster she sat up. The boy looked at her with a calm face until her blue eyes met his black ones; then his eyes widened.  
  
"Trio?" The boy dropped the two menus he had yet to give them.  
  
Trio grimaced but managed a big grin, "Long time no see.Kamui.Kasshu." 


	48. Virus

Trio attempted to stand but nearly fell in the process. Kamui caught her and sat her back down.  
  
"Wh..what are you doing here?! You look terrible!"  
  
"I think I caught a bug, but I'm fine, I promise."  
  
Kamui frowned as he glanced at Trio's companions, "What are you doing here and who are these people?"  
  
"Kamui!" The old cashier yelled as people walked into the restaurant, "more customers! Quit socializing!" Kamui gave the older man a pained look but reached down and picked up the two menus he dropped and handed them to Trey and Trio.  
  
"I'll be back for your orders momentarily," he said in a monotone voice.  
  
Trio was snapped out of her trance (which she had entered after Kamui lifted her up) as Shinna slammed her palm on the table. The water in the cups nearly spilt.  
  
"Who the hell is that?! Kasshu as in DOMON KASSHU?! What's going on?!"  
  
"Be.quiet, Shinna, you're making a scene."  
  
"Trio," Trey asked, "is he the reason you felt you had to come?"  
  
"Trey," Trio's voice was weak as she tried to get a breath, "please leave me alone for a few.I.can't."  
  
"Let ME explain," Nekura hissed.  
  
"What are YOU doing out?!" Shinna whispered ferociously.  
  
"Trio OBVIOUSLY doesn't have the breath to explain so I will.  
  
"Kamui Kasshu is the son of Domon Kasshu and Rain Mikamura. He's the Burning or God Gundam's G-Alloid. Kamui supposedly died eight years ago in a train accident."  
  
"But how did you know he was alive? That he was here?" Shinna asked Trio.  
  
"It must have been that dream," Aka informed her. Shinna glared at him before looking at Trio again, who could only nod.  
  
"Now what do we do?" Trey wondered. "We're here and it seems unlikely that you could fly back anytime soon as sick as you look, Trio."  
  
Trio didn't reply, for she was unconscious and falling towards the floor (for what, the third time? ^_^ sorry, I feel super sorry for her.). Trey jumped up and caught her before she hit the ground and as he was sitting her up again he saw Kamui talking to the cashier and motioning toward them. Seconds later Kamui had his apron on the counter and was walking over to them.  
  
"My old man gave me the rest of the day off. How about I take you guys to my house and we can talk."  
  
"If you hadn't noticed," Trey said, "Trio's unconscious."  
  
Kamui glared back but cut off his smart remark back. Trey picked up the unconscious girl and handed her to Kamui. The two teens still sitting quickly stood up. Shinna grabbed the bags, handing Trey his and Aka walked ahead to open the door.  
  
***** The now enlarged party marched down the cluttered street. A few cars drove past but even more bikers and pedestrians past the group. A few looks directed at them were concerned while others were curious but no one questioned them.  
  
The teens soon arrived in a residential neighborhood and moments later walked up to a single floor brown house with a small brick fence.  
  
Kamui handed the unconscious, wheezing girl to Aka and removed a key from his necklace. The group was quickly in a front room with a small TV, couch and chair; all of which were brown (except the TV ^_^).  
  
"Let me put her in my bed," Kamui told Aka, who willingly handed the limp girl back to him. Kamui disappeared momentarily and reappeared without Trio.  
  
"So what's going on?" Kamui asked as he motioned for the teens to sit down.  
  
"To be honest, Kamui we don't know ourselves," Trey informed the host.  
  
"Do you mean to tell me you don't know what's wrong with Trio"  
  
"We have no clue," Shinna told him.  
  
"I'll go see if she's has a fever or something. Maybe we can give her some medicine," Kamui muttered to himself.  
  
Shinna turned to look at Aka, hopeful that maybe she'd see Nekura grinning so she could blame him for Trio's condition.  
  
And lo and behold when she looked at him she did indeed she a malicious grin on his face.  
  
"You!" Everyone stopped and watched as Shinna tackled Aka to the ground. "What did you do to her?!" Shinna pounded his head on the floor to emphasize her anger.  
  
"She's not going to die, Shinna, don't worry." Nekura managed a laugh before Shinna slammed his head onto the floor again.  
  
"I asked what you did to her you bastard!"  
  
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Kamui started forward but Trey's arm and stern face stopped him.  
  
"Don't get involved, Kamui. Nekura has a few question to answer."  
  
"What will you tell Aka when he returns?" Nekura sneered. "How are you going to break it to him that you nearly killed him AGAIN and he was the reason Trio's so sick?"  
  
"What the hell is he talking about?" Kamui reached up and squeezed Trey's arm and whipped him around. Grabbing him by the shoulders he demanded, "What's going on?!"  
  
"We don't have time to explain," Trey calmly replied as he ripped his shoulders out of Kamui's grip while turning to face the fiasco on the floor. "What did you do to her?"  
  
"Tell us now!" Shinna shrieked. Her behavior was now not just out of anger but fear that Nekura would leave before she could pound the information out of him.  
  
"It's a secret."  
  
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Shinna called forth a small triton and brought it close to his throat.  
  
"All right," Nekura replied, "I'll at least tell you what's wrong with her. It's a simple but untreatable and undetectable virus and though I wish it would it won't kill her."  
  
Trey kept his gaze on Nekura for a moment before sighing. "Get up, Shinna, we found out what we wanted to know."  
  
"That doesn't tell me what's wrong!"  
  
"Viruses are very difficult to treat if at all and he said it won't kill her. That's the best we can do for now," Trey said as he extended his hand to the girl. Shinna turned to Nekura and glared again but took Trey's hand anyway.  
  
Sighing as she stood she said, "Aka, let me help you up." Aka was holding his head.  
  
"Wh.what happened?" Aka took Shinna's hand and stood up.  
  
"I'd like to ask the same question," Kamui threatened.  
  
"Aka has MPD." Trey informed Kamui, "his other personality knows a lot of info about the G-Alloids and anyone else involved."  
  
"Okay then," Kamui looked at Aka, "so this Aka guy has another personality called Nekura."  
  
"Yes. Nekura knows almost everything about the G-Alloids while Aka has no knowledge other than what we tell him."  
  
"Wait a second," Kamui raised his hand up, "how do YOU know about the G- Project?"  
  
"We're a part of the G-Project just like you, Kamui," Shinna answered. Kamui nodded and walked into the kitchen, returning a few moments later with four bottles of water.  
  
"We'll have to wait a while longer, maybe Trio can fight this thing off." Kamui handed the bottles out while Shinna, Trey and Aka sat on the couch and he sat on the chair facing the door.  
  
Two hours later Kamui's 'father' walked in the door. He seemed to be younger than he had appeared in the restaurant. His brown hair was firmly stuck to his head from the humidity.  
  
"So where's Trio, Kamui? I thought you'd be socializing with her." He looked around, "and where are those kids that were with you earlier?"  
  
Kamui had had his head rested in his palms and now lifted his head. His eyes were slightly red; his father frowned.  
  
"Kamui? What's wrong?"  
  
"The 'X' had an agent give her a virus. I've tried everything but she's almost quit breathing. Even the agent can't stop it."  
  
His father, Geovin tensed, "There's an 'X' agent in the house?"  
  
"It's complicated but he's not after me, at least not right now. He's been ordered to bring Trio in."  
  
Geovin sat on the arm of the chair next to Kamui. "Are you sure there's nothing you can do?"  
  
Kamui stood up angrily, "YES! No medication has helped in ANY way!"  
  
"Have you tried using the Burning Gundam?" Kamui froze.  
  
"But.even if I did, what good would it do?"  
  
"I don't know, but it won't hurt to try. Trio's life may depend on you."  
  
Kamui smiled, "Thanks." Kamui made his way to the first room on the right where Aka was pacing underneath the window while Trey and Shinna held the wheezing teen's hands. When he entered the room Trio's eyes opened a small bit.  
  
"K..Kam." She coughed and couldn't stop for a few seconds.  
  
Kamui waited until she'd quit. "Don't speak." He pulled out his orange remote. "Dad gave me an idea so I'm activating the Burning Gundam for the first time."  
  
"That could be dangerous," Trey warned.  
  
"I'm just turning it on." Kamui lifted the cover off the 'on/off' button and pushed it. 


	49. Delay and Success

Images flooded Kamui's head. He saw Domon, his real father and Rain, his real mother. He saw the numerous fights and countless enemies and allies the Burning Gundam had seen. But what appeared most strongly was the Burning Gundam in its full tournament glory in a black, endless place were Kamui found himself, the same height as the Gundam.  
  
'Hello, Kamui Kasshu,' the Burning Gundam greeted him.  
  
'Burning Gundam,' Kamui replied.  
  
'You have finally awakened me and I sense a great danger lying about.' The Gundam paused, 'Ah, I see, Trio is in terrible danger and you wish to save your best friend.'  
  
'I can't let her die or anything even close to death after she just found me. We've worked too hard to stay alive to die now!'  
  
Kamui felt the fighting spirit of the Burning Gundam awaken.  
  
'Deathscythe,' he murmured, 'has informed me that my awaking was right on time. The time to fight for our existence has finally arrived.  
  
'He has also told me, though I could barely decipher what he said, that the virus Nekura slipped her was a technologically advanced virus that would have been used for cyborgs if the world had any. It was manufactured as humans began to realize electronics could be used to keep them alive longer but humans never evolved to the point of cyborgs and the manufacturing of this microscopic virus were stopped. Kai managed to get hold of one before they were destroyed and has had it for some time. He must have given it to Nekura along with the net.'  
  
'And he could tell you all this?'  
  
'Deathscythe, Heavyarms, AND Shenlong Nataku have told me this information.  
  
'It will shut down her machine side and since she's still got Deathscythe activated and since Deathscythe has control over her every function it will shut everything in her body down. It will soon put her into a comatose or suspended animation state. If we don't turn Deathscythe off and keep it off she will not be able to wake up without the help of the enemy.'  
  
Kamui nodded and found himself back in his body and looking down at the young girl who was trying to keep breathing but ultimately failing. He felt a sudden prodding and looking at Trey, who was looking at him.  
  
'Trey?'  
  
'She has her activation pad in her back pocket.'  
  
'Why don't you get it and push the button?'  
  
'Shinna and I are going to restrain Nekura should he realize what we're doing. Besides, you're her best friend, she'd be honored, if she cared at the moment, if you'd do it.'  
  
Shinna and Trey stood up, stepping in front of the pacing Aka who stopped and looked at the two kids. Kamui rolled Trio over and felt her back pocket (though he was blushing) and quickly located the pad. He quickly pulled it out.  
  
Nekura perceived what Kamui was trying to do at the same time Aka did.  
  
'YOU'RE NOT GETTING OUT! THEY'LL STOP YOU!' Aka screamed in his head as Nekura tried to come out of his little world. When he didn't gain immediate acceptance into Aka's body he began clawing at the 'door'. Aka screamed and grabbed his head, falling to the floor. Kamui looked up sharply.  
  
"Do it, Kamui," Aka gasped as the pain increased, "Do it quickly before Nekura gets out!"  
  
Kamui grimly nodded and in one quick motion lifted the cover and pushed the 'on/off' button: nothing happened. Kamui panicked and pushed it again, harder but nothing still happened.  
  
"What's wrong?" Trey asked.  
  
"I don't know," Kamui whispered.  
  
'HAHAHA,' Nekura laughed. 'So it isn't working, that's great, now to get that.' Nekura pushed as painfully as he could on Aka's awareness and was rewarded with a scream and admittance into his body.  
  
"Now," Nekura said aloud as he lunged for the remote, bypassing the two G- Alloids standing guard. Shinna reached for him and missed, now the two could only watch in horror. Kamui saw him coming and turned to face him.  
  
As Nekura's hand stretched forward it did not successfully grab the remote; on the contrary, it hit the on/off button that was still uncovered.  
  
As Nekura crashed to the ground Trio's breathing immediately calmed and she fell into a quick sleep.  
  
Kamui gasped but chided himself on getting distracted and tossed her remote to the surprised Shinna. He leaned down and grabbed both of Nekura's hands.  
  
"What are you going to do now you freak?"  
  
"Damn you, Kamui!" Nekura hissed, "how did you know?"  
  
"Know what?"  
  
Nekura laughed a guttural laugh, "You still don't know. Look to the rules, you'll see eventually; IF it's not too late for Trio by then." Nekura relaxed and the groaning sound of Aka soon came from the fallen form.  
  
"Kamui, I'm sorry," Aka cried as Kamui helped him stand up.  
  
"No, you did the right thing," Kamui touched his shoulder.  
  
"What do you mean? I let him out."  
  
"He forced his way out and without him we wouldn't have been able to turn the remote off."  
  
"Kamui," Geovin yelled down the hall.  
  
"We got it turned off, she's okay."  
  
"Pizza will be here any minute for you and your friends."  
  
Kamui smiled, "Thinks of everything he does." He turned back to the two teenagers staring in awe at Kamui, Aka and Trio.  
  
"We.we did it," Shinna said quietly.  
  
Trey smiled, "Good job, Kamui."  
  
Kamui rolled his eyes, "Enough of that. It wasn't just me, it was us all."  
  
'Kamui,' a strange voice spoke in Kamui's head, 'thank you for helping save us.'  
  
'Deathscythe,' Kamui guessed, 'you're welcome but if it wasn't for Aka you'd be lost.'  
  
'Yes, I know. Keep an eye on him. Nekura is a dangerous character to deal with and you cannot afford any mistakes at this point.'  
  
'I understand.' 


	50. Getting Down to the Details

Trio lay in bed for two days to regain her strength. One of the G-Alloids was always with her while the others enjoyed the sites of Athens. They came back every day to tell her of their adventures, sometimes bringing back a trinket or two. Trio (more often than not) pouted at being left out of the fun but rarely argued with the unanimous decision.  
  
It was a week before Trio left the house and it was none too soon. She thought she was going to go crazy from being stuck in that room since she had arrived. The group spent the day shopping and seeing the sights. Trio almost cried when she thought about how she thought she had lost Kamui all those years ago and then here he was shopping and laughing with her.  
  
Later that night Kamui finally talked with the G-Alloids about their plan. He agreed they should leave Earth and that L3. He even agreed to go with them and help them get to space. Nekura was none too happy that they would have another G-Alloid to catch when the time came; Trio was proving to be a handful as it was.  
  
The next day as they were shopping Kamui ran into a young and beautiful girl. She kindly (but snotty-like) reminded Kamui about her birthday party the next day and that he promised to come. When he pointed out his best friend, Trio was in town and they were going to be leaving to the colonies the girl (her name was Marianne) glared at Trio and informed him he had to at LEAST make an appearance. Kamui asked if he could bring his guests along and Marianne grudgingly agreed to his plea.  
  
The whole day of Marianne's party was spent in preparation for the trip. Geovin was very unwilling to let Kamui leave but Kamui told him it was his best interest to leave. Geovin was depressed the whole day but paused his mood to call and order tickets for the kids to go up to space; he paid for the tickets so they could use their money for food.  
  
***** With their stuff packed and next to the door the group walked the ¼ mile to Marianne's house. It was a small white house with a small fence surrounding it. Tons of cars were parked along the street and the music could be heard blaring down the street.  
  
"They could get in trouble for that," Shinna pointed out grumpily. Trey and Shinna had steadily disagreed to going but Kamui managed to badger them into coming. Trio was indifferent.  
  
"You complain too much, Shinna," Kamui retorted.  
  
"It's loud and annoying, it's not complaining."  
  
"It's just pointing out the obvious."  
  
"And I can point it out if I want!"  
  
"Would you two," Trio reprimanded.  
  
Shinna laughed and slugged Kamui, "We're just kidding around, right, Kamui?"  
  
"Yea." Kamui replied as they reached the front door and rang the bell. Marianne's mother came to the door.  
  
"Oh, my, Kamui, how nice to se you. Who are you're friends? I didn't anticipate extra guests."  
  
"I'm sorry, Miss. We won't be staying. I had to bring Marianne her gift." Kamui pulled out a small box from behind his back.  
  
"Why thank you," she replied, "but wouldn't it be nice to say Happy Birthday to her?"  
  
Kamui laughed nervously, "Of course."  
  
The group followed the mom and soon ran into a loud, messy, crowded room.  
  
'Apparently she's very popular,' Shinna muttered.  
  
'Yes, I guess she is,' Trey replied.  
  
Marianne, who was dancing soon noticed the group and ran over. She gave Trio a dirty look and hugged Kamui.  
  
"Kamui, you made it, GREAT!"  
  
"I can't stay long, Marianne, I've got to go to the space port."  
  
"What?!" She exploded angrily. Most of the people in the room turned to watch.  
  
"I told you yesterday that I could only stop by."  
  
"It's because of her!" Marianne bawled, pointing at the surprised Trio.  
  
"It's not her fault!" Kamui snapped. "I haven't seen her in many years! She's just a friend."  
  
"You're leaving because of her," Marianne whispered venomously.  
  
"I'm going with THEM yes, and I'm sorry I couldn't stay long, however," Kamui turned around to leave, "why would I want to stay if you're going to act like a jealous, spoiled brat! My life doesn't revolve around yours, never has and never will, Marianne. I've got a few more obligations that being around such a jealous girl. She's an old best friend from my childhood, that's all." Kamui stepped into the doorway. "Oh, Happy Birthday." Kamui left calmly with the group standing for a moment in awe. Marianne stared at him as he left.  
  
"Guess she lost that bet," one girl whispered.  
  
"What bet?" Her friend whispered back.  
  
"She made a bet that she'd kiss Kamui and make him buy her a gift or something. Then after he'd bought her a ton of stuff she'd dump him."  
  
"She was going to embarrass the most popular guy in school like that?"  
  
"Yea, but I guess he saw through her."  
  
"Kamui," Trio said, quickly following him outside. "That was a little harsh wasn't it?"  
  
"If you think that's harsh, wait till you see the gift I got that brat," Kamui smirked.  
  
"What?"  
  
"It's a book about a high school boy and what he went through to become popular. He did everything he could, hurt people, pushed them aside, and beat them up and such. Then one day he met someone stronger, nicer and gentler than him. He noticed that all the people he talked to knew the guy and admired him. That ticked him off that this new guy had gotten up so quickly and he made a bet to embarrass him, however, the nice guy got wind of it beforehand and thwarted the other boy."  
  
"What does this have to do with Marianne?"  
  
"She did that on her way to the top of the popularity pole. I was the second boy. I angered her when I rose quickly and she planned on making me into a fool."  
  
"Well, I admit the gift was a good idea if she gets the hint, but."  
  
"That's why I had to say those things. She will realize after she starts the book that that's what happened at her party."  
  
"That is a good idea, but I still can't believe you said that though."  
  
"Sometimes things just have to be done," was all Kamui would say as the teens walked back towards the house, oblivious of the scheming of Nekura with his news source inside the completely ignorant Aka. 


	51. Nekura's Final Betrayal

***FLASHBACK****  
  
"Mr. Kai, test subject Ala is here."  
  
"Excellent, how is he coming along?"  
  
"It's taken longer than expected, but it's finally a success."  
  
"Was all my money supporting your research worth it?"  
  
"Yes sir," The eight year old boy known as Ala walked in with a dazed look on his face, "The personality you requested has been implanted. Ala is completely oblivious of the new personality he has been given."  
  
"What about the knowledge barrier?"  
  
"The personality WE have control of will have near complete control of Ala. He can come 'out' so to speak when he desires to and he will have all the knowledge we send him."  
  
"And Ala will have no knowledge of the other's knowledge?"  
  
"Yes, Sir."  
  
"We now have the perfect spy. He can't tell our enemies anything because he will not know anything."  
  
"It was done as you requested sir, but I wonder, why this boy?"  
  
"One day he may be of use to us."  
  
"Why is that Mr. Kai?"  
  
"He is related to Duo Maxwell."  
  
"What does that have to do with Project G-X?"  
  
"It has no significance right now but he was the perfect subject AND he may prove useful one day. The 'X' plans on wiping out the pilots as well because they are a contributing factor. I always make sure to have a backup to my backup. That's how I will catch those blasted G-Alloids and exterminate them all."  
  
"Excellent idea, Sir! How many are left, Sir?"  
  
"Only six, but I know of the location of the sixth one and soon he will die."  
  
"Let's change his name."  
  
"There was a Japanese man that passed through Ankara a few days ago named Aka."  
  
"Aka.yes, that's a perfect name."  
  
END FLASHBACK  
  
It was getting dark as the group started back to Kamui's house to gather their stuff. Trio looked back once and saw two black vehicles following them. She frowned but didn't mention them. It would take a little while to walk back to Kamui's so she figured it might be just they were going the same way.  
  
As they reached the park near Kamui's house Trio noticed the vehicles had stopped and five men climbed out of each. They were dressed in black uniforms and Trio was startled to notice (besides the fact that no one else had noticed the men) that they were all carrying pistols. Fear rose in her throat.  
  
"We're in trouble guys," She whispered.  
  
Kamui glanced back and started. "It's them. It's the guys who blew up the train when I was only a kid. They're after us."  
  
Aka glanced back and stopped for a second while the others hurried ahead. Trio frowned at him and almost screamed when a sick grin crossed his face and he nodded to the men across the street.  
  
"Run," She whispered.  
  
"Where?" Shinna whispered back.  
  
"That park in front of us has quite a few trees in it," Kamui replied, "if we can get into there we can hide amongst the trees and meet back at the house."  
  
The kids bolted for the park as Nekura turned back. At first he frowned, "Drats," then smiled, "a treasure hunt eh?" Nekura raced after the kids with the men in suits behind him.  
  
Trio was gasping as she entered the trees. Trey went to the left, Shinna to the right and Trio followed Kamui. Trio could barely keep up and was falling farther behind as they ran around the circumference of the park trees. She could hear crashing branches from the bushes interlaced between the trees as the men pursued her.  
  
It seemed like they ran for an eternity though it was less than a minute. Trio tripped over a branch as a hand grasped her shirt collar. Shrieking as she fell she felt a hand touch her butt. As she was falling she flipped herself over and saw Nekura's concentrated face as he pulled her remote close to his chest.  
  
Trio hit the ground with a thud and Nekura landed on top of her, pinning her arms and legs down. He grinned fiercely.  
  
"Your time is up," he whispered as he lifted the cover of the 'on/off' button and pushed it.  
  
Trio's sight suddenly exploded into darkness and her chest felt like it had been shot with arrows. Her breathing suddenly became labored and her arms refused to even TRY to struggle.  
  
"Ne.ku...ra." Trio gasped as her eyes closed and she quit breathing. Nekura smiled and started to slip the remote into his pocket when a rock suddenly came flying from in front of him, knocking the remote from his hand. Before he could get up to retrieve it Kamui had it and was standing behind him.  
  
"Now what will you do?" Nekura asked. "You cannot activate it. She is under our control now. Hand over the remote like a good boy, Kamui."  
  
"I'll NEVER do that!" Kamui snapped at Nekura, who was picking the limp girl up.  
  
"I guess it does not matter," Nekura shrugged as he lifted Trio onto his shoulder. "I would suggest that you leave immediately if you don't want to get caught."  
  
"Since when have you cared about us?" Kamui spat.  
  
Nekura shrugged, "Call it a conscience or maybe it's because since I met Trio she's protected me from that crazy Shinna or maybe it's because I'm sort of related to her and I feel like I owe her a favor. Either way, it's just a suggestion you run. If you don't take it and they catch you," Nekura shrugged and almost stormed right into the surprised Kamui. A few of the men started to appear from a distance away and Kamui didn't have a chance to try and help Trio as he ran for his life.  
  
"Master!" The men said as they reached Nekura and Trio. "Congratulations on your catch! Should we pursue the others?"  
  
"Why bother?" Nekura shrugged as he handed Trio to one of the indiscrete men. "They can't run far. I've reported that they are heading for L3 and if you can't find them by that follow the device on Trio's remote."  
  
"Device, Master?"  
  
"There's a tracking device installed in the remote as it is. Now get her to Mr. Nanzaki immediately. There has been enough interferences in his plan already."  
  
"Yes, Master," The men said as they contacted the other agents and headed back to the cars, the now depressed Aka following behind.  
  
"Why did you do that, Nekura?" He whispered. "Why did you even tell me that?"  
  
'I told you what I did. You should know is all.'  
  
"You reactivated her remote. Now Kai will have to save her. How could you do such a thing?"  
  
'I was created as a spy, Aka, you know that. Turning her over to them was my job and that's that. Don't whine about it.'  
  
"Why am I going with them?"  
  
'Where else are you going to go? I'm absolutely sure Kamui would kill us if we went back to his house and the only thing to do is go back to school and see what happens from there.'  
  
"What about you?"  
  
'Kai is going to give you fare to go back to the Sanc kingdom and you'll attend school. As for me, he has no use for me. We'll get the fare and leave. He promised I could live.'  
  
"Why would he let you live?"  
  
'Kai is unpredictable. Besides that, he thinks with me around, he might be able to snag the others G-Alloids.'  
  
"They're going to ask what happened to Trio y'know."  
  
'Tell them that "X" got Trio and the others should have went to L3. And honestly I'm tired of being the bad guy, Aka.'  
  
"That's good, I guess," Aka mumbled under his breath as he squeezed between two men in the front seat.  
  
"What is good, Master?" The driver asked as the drove off.  
  
"Nothing," Aka replied as he glanced out of the window and saw Shinna bawling into Trey's shirt as the cars turned the corner. A tear slipped down Aka's cheek as he cried himself to sleep, falling onto the passenger next to him. The man stroked Aka's hair once then turned his attention to the road. 


	52. Intermezzo

Jerome received a phone call the next morning. The group that had chased after the runaway kids had returned to their homes and had been there for at least a week and a half.  
  
The phone call came very late at night from an unknown number. Usually he wouldn't answer those but he was ready to answer to anyone to get Trio back safely. He'd been sitting next to the phone while he was reading a book and answered.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Jerome? Is this Jerome Hawk?" It was Shinna.  
  
"Shinna?! What's going on?"  
  
A sob broke out from the other end, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Jerome, but.they got her."  
  
Jerome's heart sank and he almost started sobbing himself. He stared at the wall across from him until a scream from Shinna brought him back.  
  
"I'm sorry, we tried to stop them but if Trio tried to activate the remote she would have fallen into a suspended animation state but it got activated."  
  
"Where are you?"  
  
"I'm calling from a payphone at the space port."  
  
Jerome's voice was strained, "Even after Trio was captured you're still planning on running away?!"  
  
"Trio told us to. It's safer for us. I'm afraid my cell phone will be of little use, sorry."  
  
Jerome wanted to scream at her, strangle her if he could but with his head bowed he continued, "So you really think you can escape them? They'll find you, Shinna. Please, just come back."  
  
"But Jerome."  
  
"PLEASE!" Jerome begged, "Don't put anyone else through this! Can you imagine what they're going to do to her?!" A sob escaped, "Please, come back."  
  
Shinna looked out the window at the nearly ready shuttle that would take them away from Earth. It was such a hard decision.  
  
"I'll discuss it with the others.if we decide to come back we'll call you. If you don't hear from us in a few days we went to the colonies."  
  
Jerome nodded to himself. "If she dies don't think I'll forgive you, Shinna.but I wish you good luck anyway. I'm not a bitter man and that's good for you."  
  
"I'm sorry they got her, but we couldn't stop them."  
  
"Don't apologize so much, it doesn't help and it's annoying."  
  
"Bye." Shinna hung up.  
  
Jerome pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at the phone in shock. He finally hung the phone up when it began blaring at him. After that he twisted around and stared at a picture of Trio above his chair. Even as a child her hair was braided, just like her fathers'. Her blue eyes shown with adoration for the man who raised her. Jerome's eyes filled with tears but did not overflow. With Trio in the hands of the 'X' he may never see her alive again.  
  
***** Shinna turned back to the waiting teens.  
  
"Jerome wants us to come back," she informed them.  
  
"What good will that do?" Kamui asked.  
  
"Running away won't really accomplish anything is what he thinks. We can't escape from the 'X' and he doesn't want us to put our families through what he's going through."  
  
"What good will staying here do us?" Kamui reiterated.  
  
"What good will it do anyone involved if we go up to the colonies where we really can't run anywhere?" Trey voiced.  
  
Shinna looked at awe at Trey. "Trey, you don't want to go?"  
  
"I've never been fond of the idea of leaving Earth and being cornered in a colony but Trio's capture has made me sure that leaving won't help her any."  
  
"We should be concerned about us now that they know where we are.however," Kamui closed his eyes, "we also can't just abandon her. She may be just like the rest of us but she's our friend."  
  
"I think we should go back and try to find her."  
  
"It's impossible to find her right now," Kamui informed them sternly. "Going into the Azure Kingdom will only get us involved and in deeper than we can get out of. If both of you agree, I'll trade our space tickets in and get plane tickets and we'll head to your homes. From there we'll have to play it by ear."  
  
"I'm going back," Trey decided.  
  
"And I agree," Shinna said with determination.  
  
"Then let's go," Kamui smiled, "the least we can do is be at home if she escapes."  
  
"It's improbable she'll escape, let's face it," Trey mumbled.  
  
"Have a little faith. Her father is the God of Death after all.he's escaped from quite a few impossible situations and I don't doubt she can do the same."  
  
***** Shiro received a phone call while he was at school. He raced down to the office, hoping Trio was calling to say she was returning. The office lady left the room while he talked on the phone and his hopes were quickly shattered.  
  
"Hello, son."  
  
"Dad?" Shiro's heart jumped and sunk at the same time.  
  
"Are you ready to come back to me?"  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"We successfully captured your girlfriend."  
  
Shiro couldn't believe it. "You're lying; she wouldn't let you catch her."  
  
"It's true. If you come back to me I may let her see you one last time."  
  
"What kind of deal is that?! You're sick, Dad, real sick. I can't nor will I try to come back to you. Remember who nearly killed me?"  
  
"You interfered. It was the best punishment I could hand to you."  
  
"I'm sorry, Dad, I'm never coming back, I've got a new life and I'm not going to get involved with your sick ideals, bye." Shiro slammed the phone down as the office lady walked back in with a stack of papers.  
  
"Please do not slam the phone," she reprimanded as she walked past.  
  
"Sorry," Shiro mumbled as he trudged back to choir (he had transferred into that class before he had left to track Trio down), where he would inform Daemon and Alex of the horrible news. 


	53. The Torture Begins

Pain was distant. It was so distant it was like being in Japan and having it all the way in the U.S. Yet, as distant as it was it seemed so close that it was intolerable. Moving or adjusting wasn't working. Squirming didn't help for it seemed like the pain and irritation was part of her and there is no getting away from bodily pain.  
  
Trio tried to toss but it was to no avail. Her eyes wouldn't open and she began to panic as the pain that covered her whole body increased. She tried to scream, both in pain and fear but her vocal cords seemed not to respond. As hard as she tried to escape that which plagued her, in the end it was worthless.  
  
This feeling continued for six more hours. During those six tedious, torturing hours she lay there, not knowing what was going on, and not remembering how she might have got where she was or what she was going to do. Not knowing what was happening to her was almost as bad as the pain. It was searing, freezing, burning and constricting all at once. Trio couldn't locate the source of the pain, yet it continued without delay.  
  
It was an hour after those six that she finally felt she had the strength and screamed. She could hear it echo off the walls and over large metal, plastic and glass objects. Using the satisfaction that she gained from this she started thrashing, but it was useless. No matter how hard she pulled she didn't budge. She screamed again in frustration and fear until a sudden feeling stopped her in mid-scream.  
  
Trio struggled and opened her eyes. It was light but not light enough to squint. The light seemed to come from a very large window about 50 feet up but Trio couldn't actually see it, she guessed it was there from the amount of light she saw reflect off the silver table in front of her face. Turning her face as much as her neck would allow she saw a huge metal machine and a few vials full of blood sitting on a small table nearby. It felt like she was in a Frankenstein movie from what she could see.  
  
"It seems that we have successfully revived you, Trio Maxwell." A small man with wiry gray hair and a white lab coat stepped into her line of view though she had to tilt her head up.  
  
"Who.where.what."  
  
"You are in Kai Nanzaki's private laboratory. I am his trusted lab doctor. My name is irrelevant.  
  
"As for what, we've been running some test experiments on you. It started with waking you up. This was accomplished just this last hour.  
  
"After that we drew blood and attempted to control Deathscythe Hell with this big machine here," The doctor pointed to the machine he knew Trio could see, "and we almost had that control. Your Gundam has proven stronger than we expected. However, any minute this machine will break his control and we will be able to control you completely."  
  
"That.so.that's the source of.my pain."  
  
"So," the man cocked his head to the left, "you can feel this? You can feel our experiment breaking your protection?" Trio suddenly realized that for one she was laying on her stomach and two the machine was attached to her neck, making it difficult to move her head, her arm and various other places she couldn't feel.  
  
The building pain kept Trio from speaking but she nodded. This movement brought about a dizziness that threatened to knock her out. She whimpered.  
  
The evil old man laughed, "I never imagined that a G-Alloid would make such pitiful sounds! I also never imagined we'd capture one of your kind alive. We've tried for years, exterminating one after another, never alive or even useable. It's a pity they caught you, or more like Aka or Nekura as you call him, activated your remote. You could have gone the rest of your life without this happening if your Gundam side had been left off.too bad."  
  
"I think Shiro hates you," Kai interrupted as he walked into the room. Trio couldn't see him but heard his voice echo. "I told him to come see you and he refused."  
  
"All.the better," Trio spat out. A cough suddenly enveloped her and it took quite some time to stop.  
  
"You are stronger than you look, Trio Maxwell. But ask yourself this, how long until Deathscythe's defenses crumble and we control you both? Then we can do to you what we did to Ala, or Aka as you know him."  
  
Trio tried to speak but again the energy escaped her and just could only frown.  
  
"We penetrated his easy defenses as a child and set up the personality you know as Nekura. It's long and complicated but you're probably curious as to how he activated it when he should not have been able to.  
  
"To put it in laments terms, he's your fourth cousin, which means he's related, which is in accordance with those Gundam Rules."  
  
The news hit Trio hard and the shock of what Kai said and the unbearable pain send her head spinning, right into unconsciousness. 


	54. Cruel and Unusual Torture: It Continues

AN: The ending part of this chapter may be a little graphic (blood and torture, nothing big) but I felt you might like to know ahead of time. ^_^  
  
Trio woke to a pain so excruciating she couldn't breathe. Her eyes widened as she tried to gasp but it was useless, her body wouldn't respond. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks. Trying to get her body to respond she banged her forehead on the table and the doctor and Kai appeared almost immediately.  
  
"I see we've finally cracked her control," Kai smugly said.  
  
"It seems so," the doctor added as he pressed a button on the machine, which allowed Trio to breathe. "All you need is to press that button to control her," the doctor gestured to a green button on the machine.  
  
Kai strolled over to the machine. Horror grew in Trio's stomach as he pushed it.  
  
"Trio, release your wings."  
  
Trio felt her wings partially tear through her shirt before hit the strap. Trio screamed in pain until they broke through the strap. They flexed and flapped a few times before settling comfortably on her back.  
  
"Incredible," Kai murmured, touching the black wings and rubbing them. "These are perfect for flight, no wonder you made such good time."  
  
"Get away from me!" Trio screeched, thrashing side to side. Kai jumped back when Trio surged upwards, nearly slipping from the other bands on her ankles, thighs and upper back; her hand restraints strained.  
  
"Doctor!" Kai snarled.  
  
"Yes, Master Kai," he replied, pulling out another strap and strapping her back down below her wings. "I'm sorry about that sir."  
  
"Trio, put your wings away," Trio's wings folded themselves down until they became the black-winged tattoos residing on her shoulder blades.  
  
"Incredible," Kai muttered, running his hand along her back.  
  
"STOP!!!" Trio started struggling with fear and anger.  
  
"Trio! Hold still." Trio's body suddenly stopped. Trio's eyes widened.  
  
"No.this can't be."  
  
"But it is my dear child," Kai smiled. "You're now mine." Trio vainly tried to move but her hopes of living freely through this experience had been dashed along with her spirit.  
  
The two men walked out of the room discussing the breakthrough, leaving a broken and hungry girl strapped still to the table face first.  
  
Trio sighed and lay there for hours thinking about her situation. With them in control of her it wouldn't do them too much good to send her against her comrades, for that would violate the Gundam Rule #3 set by Trey: Never attack a fellow G-Alloid. She really saw no point to continue to live if they were just going to experiment on her then kill her but she couldn't bring herself to think about suicide.  
  
She lay there, unable to sleep, unable to move and VERY hungry.  
  
"HEY!" She screamed as loud as she could.  
  
"What is it?" The old doctor came over a PA system.  
  
"I'm hungry!" She screamed back.  
  
"I'm not deaf!" the man she knew simply as "Doctor" yelled back.  
  
"Feed me then! I'll do no good to you if I die of starvation!"  
  
"Silence! After we get what we want from you you'll die so it's a waste of food." A loud sound over the PA confirmed he had shut off communications with that room.  
  
"You could at least give me my last meal so maybe I won't die hungry,"  
Trio muttered as her stomach growled.  
  
***** Two hours later, Trio was awakened by a loud sound. She opened her eyes to see Kai's fist come slamming into her cheek. Crying out in pain she squirmed and was poked by a cattle prong Kai had concealed in his other hand. The electricity sent her immobilized legs jerking and Kai was greeted with another scream. He reached behind him and grabbed an empty needle and jammed it into her calf and Trio's jerking movement only made the painful puncture worse.  
  
This game of cat and mouse, with more instruments that were usually used to help, continued until Trio's legs, arms, neck, face and back were bleeding heavily and Trio's voice was so hoarse she couldn't even whimper. At this point Kai threw down his instruments. Sweating and breathing heavily he laughed.  
  
"Now that I've had my fun, you'll die," he laughed.  
  
"But sir," The doctor walked into the room, "you've only caused Trio pain.what about Deathscythe?"  
  
Kai grinned wickedly. "And I have the perfect torture."  
  
Kai pulled out a knife at his belt and ran a heavy line down the left side of Trio's back where the black wing tattoo was. It cut just inside the lines of black and Trio could do nothing more than sob silently. Kai continued to laugh.  
  
"Now, Trio.extract your wings."  
  
Trio screamed loudly when her wings came out and the pain almost caused her to pass out again.  
  
Across her left wing was a gigantic cut, cleanly severing the inner part of her wing. Trio gasped and screamed again. Finally, the pain was too overwhelming and she passed out.  
  
"Have you had enough fun, Mr. Kai?"  
  
"No, she's passed out again, and I'm going to wake her up."  
  
"Sir," the Doctor pointed out, "if you torture her too much and don't give her voice a chance to recover she won't scream for you tomorrow."  
  
"True enough, well, good night. Should I leave her wings out for the night, Doctor?"  
  
"It makes no difference, but it would hurt her more if her injured wing was to come out because it would start to flap a few times and would reopen her wounds."  
  
"Trio, put your wings up." For a second the wings didn't respond. Kai frowned but the wings slid back into the tattoos immediately.  
  
"Sometimes the computer must distinguish what you're asking," the Doctor offered in response. 


	55. The Last Straw

Trio awoke to a searing pain in her wings. She screamed and heard laughter erupt from the other side of the room near the door. Her hands, handcuffed to the bars in front of her jerked.  
  
"Good morning, Trio." Kai remarked, walking into the room. "Today I've got a special treat for you. It seems that good-for-nothing son of mine has joined your side. He's worthless even as a son now so I've decided to get rid of him."  
  
"NO!" Trio screamed. "Leave him alone!"  
  
"Anyone that gets in my way will die, you're very much aware of that." Trio was crying as quietly as she could but Kai managed to overhear her. "And you'll get to witness it."  
  
A large screen TV was wheeled by the Doctor in front of the large machine that was the source of her destruction and Trio, though still severely injured, turned to look at it. The TV turned on and immediately Trio saw a bunch of men in dark suits approaching Shiro in the school hallway.  
  
*****(Change of perspective)***** Shiro saw the men in dark suits walking toward him and started running until one spoke out after him.  
  
"Master Shiro, wait. We want to show you something."  
  
"What could you want to show me that would make me want to stay and talk to you?"  
  
"Trio."  
  
Shiro started and turned back, "Fine, you got my attention, show me."  
  
The leading man pulled out a small video camera and opened the screen for Shiro to see. He pushed the play button and handed it to the teenage boy.  
  
Shiro almost threw up. He saw his father prodding Trio with the cattle prod and saw him jab her with needles, cutting her, making her cry out and making her body spasm. He watched it for about a minute before he slammed the screen shut and threw it back into the man's hands.  
  
"What was the point of showing me that?!" He demanded.  
  
"If you want to see her alive once more your father will let you."  
  
"And if I won't come with you?"  
  
"We have orders to exterminate you, Master Shiro."  
  
Inside, Shiro was appalled they would say that so bluntly. His mind swarm and it took a second for him to get his thoughts in order. If he didn't find a way to stall them he would die.  
  
Shiro raised an eyebrow, "In public?"  
  
"Anywhere we can." The man pulled out a gun, "and this is as good a place as any."  
  
"It would be stupid to do it here, you should know that."  
  
"What are you suggesting?"  
  
"There's a forest next to the school," Shiro gestured, "it would attract less attention to you."  
  
"Lead the way but be warned, I have a gun and I won't hesitate to use it."  
  
Shiro nodded and walked past the men, in actuality heading away from the forest but he hoped the men wouldn't notice. **** Inside his head, the leader was still fighting his conscience. Kai had purposely given him and his men the job of eliminating Shiro because he knew that he had almost raised the boy. Following Shiro with his gun concealed, tears welled in his eyes momentarily before he cleared his head. With the camera recording he knew Trio was watching everything; it was for this reason he allowed Shiro to stall, making Trio think he was truly going to try and kill him. Maybe then she'd break free of the machine's control and come back to Master Shiro.  
  
So far the plan was working. *****  
  
Shiro led them down the long halls, passing a lot of classrooms. Each one had their door open and he cast a glance in the room. None of them contained any of the G-Alloids.  
  
As they were passing the arts part of the hall Shiro was beginning to lose hope.  
  
Passing the choir room, he glanced in and saw Daemon and Alex. They looked up and saw him slow down. Daemon frowned and Alex cocked his head. Shiro gave them the most worried and pathetic look he could give before nodding behind himself and walked on.  
  
"Would anyone like to take this equipment to the auditorium?" The teacher, who was Mr. Tanaka that day (the choir teacher was sick and Ken didn't have a class that hour) asked when he saw the worried look on the G-Alloids' faces.  
  
"We would, Tanaka-Sensei," Daemon offered.  
  
"Daemon-san and Alex-san? All right, go quickly." Daemon and Alex grabbed the mikes and stands and rushed out of the room, and out the door.  
  
The sat the equipment in the boy's bathroom and ran outside. They soon spotted the men being led by Shiro. The man who was recording didn't see the boys following.  
  
Shiro stopped beneath a tree and looked behind the men. He couldn't see the boys and his heart sank. The leader glanced at the camera.  
  
"It will be done," He said before turning back to Shiro and firing at him. It struck his stomach and Shiro sank to the ground.  
  
"NO!" Trio screamed as hard and as loud as she could. She felt a familiar surge of power flow through her veins as she yanked as hard as she could on the restraints; the ones on her back and legs gave way, leaving only her hands attached to the table.  
  
"Trio stop!" Kai commanded and Trio's regained control faltered as she collapsed on the table. 


	56. Last Flight Out

Trio was in darkness. It wasn't an unconscious darkness; rather, it was the darkness that meant Deathscythe was nearby.  
  
Smiling, she called out, "DEATHSCYTHE!"  
  
'I am here,' he said, appearing in his Trio-sized state.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
'You're emotional trauma has reached a critical state. This has allowed me to regain most of my former control. Kai, however, is working hard to regain it all and he will momentarily have it.'  
  
"What are we waiting for then?"  
  
'Do you wish to continue living?'  
  
"What?"  
  
'He just killed your lover. Many humans would find that a good enough reason to quit living.'  
  
Trio glared at her companion, "I'm not that type of human, Deathscythe. Now let's get to work. What do you have in mind?"  
  
'I will fry that machine, which will free us but you must get us away from here.'  
  
"Doesn't seem so hard," Trio pondered.  
  
'Do you remember the state of your body?'  
  
"It's shredded," Trio shrugged. "But is it worth it to give up? No. The other G-Alloids depend on me to get us out of here, and that's what I'll do."  
  
'I believe you're also doing this for yourself, Trio; don't try to act all heroic for the sake of others.'  
  
"You spoil my fun," Trio joked, "now, let's go!"  
  
Light flooded Trio's vision as sparks went flying. Knowing what she had to do, Trio was reluctant, now that she was in her shredded body; but she knew it was her only chance to live and there was no one stopping her from taking it.  
  
She commanded her wings to fly and nearly fell back to the ground because of the pain in her left wing but she pulled up anyway. She groaned to herself, realizing her hands were still cuffed to the table. She lifted a little more off the ground and started to attempt to cut them off when the table was tugged downwards. She scowled when she caught sight of Kai and the Doctor pulling down.  
  
"LET GO!"  
  
The two men refused to respond and started to inch their way up the table. Trio froze momentarily, deciding on her options she chose to break the table. She aimed the hardest kick her leg could muster and kicked at the upper part of the table, where she had notice it was segmented; it immediately gave way and she surged upwards, out of their reach.  
  
Kai screeched in rage and the doctor reached for a rifle near the door. Trio hadn't gotten her hands free yet but her primary concern was escaping. The sun shone through the window with a bright fierceness and she flew for it. Swinging the rest of the table at the window it shattered, spraying Kai and the doctor. They covered their faces to protect themselves and when they looked up Trio was long gone.  
  
"Damn it," Kai cursed. "I thought we had control over her!"  
  
"I don't know what happened, sir." Kai scowled and looked back up to window, frowning.  
  
"What.about that tracking device in her remote?"  
  
"I tried to trace it, but it doesn't seem to be working."  
  
"We're back to scratch again is what you're trying to say?"  
  
"You still have Nekura sir."  
  
"Hm.Maybe he can help, but I don't know how."  
  
"If not Sir, you've avoided using yours son to his full capacity."  
  
"He's dead."  
  
"You sent Harry on that mission. You KNOW he practically raised the boy, he won't kill him."  
  
"And what's your point?"  
  
"I.I haven't been fully honest with you sir."  
  
"About what?"  
  
"My involvement with the doctors who created the Gundams."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"They gave me some vials with the Gundam genes that weren't in any other child."  
  
"You're not making any sense."  
  
"Shiro.he's not a normal kid."  
  
"Are you saying YOU did THAT?!"  
  
"Blame me if you want."  
  
"But what good will it do? We still have interference."  
  
"He's different. He can defy that."  
  
"Come again?"  
  
"His element is destruction and taking things apart. Get control over him and he can destroy them."  
  
Kai pondered a few minutes then smiled, "My son, you can still accomplish great things for me."  
  
AN: Confused yet? Well, some of you many get what's going on, some may just have to wait.but try not to spoil it for the other readers.if you think you know what is going on email me, don't post it.^-^.let's torture my other readers and make them guess if they don't know.*evil laughter* 


	57. Falling

AN: My computer crashed and what I had written got erased. AND since it had to be fixed, I don't have a spell check program on the computer right now so pardon the spelling errors (some people including myself like to have everything spelled right...boy oh boy, do I wish I had Microsoft word right now...  
  
The meeting was broken up again by arguments stemming from the present situation involving Trio. Kai had not tried to contact any of them since he sent Harry to 'kill' Shiro and none knew if she was even alive now.  
  
"We have to go get her!" Duo shouted above the rest.  
  
"We can't risk the G-Alloids going into the Azure kingdom!" Daemon shouted back.  
  
"We can't just LET Kai get away with this! His reign of terror has to stop before he kills you all!" Wufei growled.  
  
Jerome had called the G-Alloids, their care takers, the pilots and Shiro (who was already there) to the mansion to discuss the immediate problem. The only ideas that got said were that they had to save her (since there were so few of them) and they couldn't risk the others. The only people who had offered no ideas (or shouts in this case) were Alex, Quatre, Heero, and Trey. Quiet Trowa had even tried to offered advice but was soon shouted out.No one had left yet because as agravating as this was, they were hoping for a say in the matter.   
  
Finally, the shouting and concepts of which was being 'discussed' got on Alexs' nerves and he stood up. The room silenced immediately.  
  
"Just where do you think you're going?" Daemon asked as Alex walked toward the door.  
  
"Getting fresh air," he replied curtly.  
  
"And if we make a decision while you're gone?" Alex closed the door, ignoring the question and headed down the hall. He knew that they wouldn't reach an agreement while he was gone as much as he wished they would.  
  
Walking down the gray hallway he peridically saw one of Jerome's servants going about their daily duties. Andrio and Sandrio walked past him on their way up to the meeting room with a tray of food.  
  
"Would you like something to eat Master Alex?" Andrio asked, showing him a plate of cookies.  
  
As hungry as he was, worrying was making him lose his appetite. "Thank you, but no." He smiled and continued on his way out. He reached the outside soon enough but quickly realized that he wanted to be in the back of the house where there was a fountain and a garden of roses and snap dragons among others.   
  
Rounding the back, his heart was temporarily lifted at the beauty. The fountain statue was a finely detailed unicorn; the water was coming out of its mouth and landed in the pool beneath, falling into the pool beneath that one soon enough. Alex smiled as he sat on the edge of the fountain. He looked up at the sky, seeing a few birds flying over his head. Nearby he heard a morning dove's call.  
  
"I wonder who's mourning," he muttered then realized it was the whole house. They all mourned for Trio, fearing her dead or worse but Alex didn't doubt her. He knew she would make it. He blinked and shook his head, clearing his mind of the thought.  
  
Alex, the Sandrock G-Alloid, laid face down on the slightly warm marble and closed his eyes, soon falling asleep despite his troubled mind.  
  
He dreamed of a sky full of clouds and the five Gundam Children flying care-free through them. Shinna and Trey flirted, playing hide-and-seek while Daemon and Alex talked about where they were going. Trio was in the middle of the pairs and was seen looking at the ground. She began falling downward to the two behind her's dismay. A warning bell sounded in Alex's head but he thought it was his nightmare. The warning got louder and louder till it hit such a high pitch Alex started awake.  
  
"Wha..." he mumbled. With concern he realized the warning sound hadn't stopped, but gotten more urgent.  
  
'What's going on?'Alex asked Sandrock. For a moment the Gundam pondered, then cried out.  
  
'Get up, Alex! She's falling!'  
  
'...Falling?' He wondered if Sandrock was seeing his dream.  
  
'Alex, Trio's falling in the sky! Deathscythe reported she's in horrible condition and she can't stay afloat anymore. She's right above us!'  
  
Alex looked up and got reprimanded, 'Alex! Get up there now!' Frowning the G-Alloid lifted off and flew up into the clouds. He looked around and flew up, down and side to side with no sign of the missing girl.  
  
'Sandrock...' Alex muttered and was about to land again when a dark 'thing' flew straight down past him. Horrified he realized it was her.  
  
"TRIO!" He screamed as he went into a nose dive.  
  
'Alex! You can't do a nose dive, you won't be able to stop in time.' Sandrock calmly explained.  
  
'That's your jurisdiction, Pal!' Alex replied offhandedly. 'I'm busy.'  
  
Alex pulled his wings in closer, barely passing the barely conscious girl.  
  
"A...lex..." Trio muttered with a grimace.  
  
"I got you, Trio," he replied while he hugged her. He forced his wings to flap harder than he had ever asked them to as he slowly uprighted the two. While he noticed, with some happiness, they were upright, to his dismay they were still falling faster than he could stop them.  
  
"I made it, I found my friends, I made it back..." Trio was muttering while a little blood soaked on Alex's hands from her back. Alex grimaced as they fell.  
  
'HELP ME!' He shouted in his head. Trio squeaked and her wings started pressing outwards, trying to help and to release Alex's grip on her wounds. Holding on tight he said, 'You GUYS! I need a little HELP here!' while aloud he said "Trio, hold still. I'm sorry if I'm hurting you but PLEASE hold still!"   
  
Daemon sat up. He had been leaning back in his chair when the urgent call came in. "What the?"  
  
"Outside!" Kamui exclaimed as he shot towards the window. "Alex is up there!"  
  
Trey jumped out of his chair and ran to the window. With a little trouble he unlocked the window and flung them open.  
  
"Outta my way!" Shinna yelled, running past the startled boys. Her wings extended and she shot upwards, tracking Sandrock's signal as she went. Trey, Daemon and Kamui were not far behind her.  
  
Daemon was about to ask Alex what was wrong when they saw a blob falling towards them at a fast speed.   
  
'It's Trio!' Alex answered the unasked question. 'But I can't stop our descent! She's too weak and it seems her injuries, especially on her wings, are great.'   
  
The other four G-Alloids were at his side immediately and with the combined power of the G-Alloids they slowed down to a near stop before setting their feet on the ground. Alex supported Trio until Jerome came shooting past, grabbing her and hugging her until she cried out.  
  
"Thank you everyone," Trio pronounced clearly with a smile.  
  
"You made it, baby girl," Jerome smiled.  
  
From behind him came a comment, "She's the child of a Gundam pilot all right, tough as any Gundam I've seen."  
  
"She's got your stamina all right, Maxwell," Wufei added. "Battered but not beaten."  
  
Looking past Jerome, Trio saw the Gundam pilots and laughed. Pulling away from Jerome she walked with unsteady steps to the Deathscythe pilot and hugged him. Spotting Shiro at the back she gave him a smile and held up the necklace, intact and still on her neck.  
  
"I'm back, I'll never leave again." Turning around she smiled at the friends who had supported her on the way down. "I'm sorry I was so stupid and I'll make it up to you all I promise."  
  
"Just getting better would do for me," Kamui declared and following his declaration came the declarations of others until Heero's glare silenced them.   
  
"Heero's right," Quatre said, "she needs to go inside." And with that Trio, with Duo and Shiro's support, was lead inside to begin her recovery. 


	58. Recollection

In the dark crevasses of Trio's mind she heard voices calling out to her. For days she resisted, quite content in the quiet and peaceful parts of her mind. Everyday the voices got more insistent and finally she couldn't take it anymore and she cracked her eyes open. The first thing she saw was Shiro holding her hand and a worried but relieved look on his face.  
  
"Shiro." Trio's fuzzy brain suddenly lit up. Sitting up in a rush and making her wounds cry out and blackening her vision she muttered. "But.I though you."  
  
"It's all right, Trio. I'm okay. I'm still alive and so are you."  
  
The tired girl sighed and quickly assessed that she was in her bed. Shiro was the only one in her room. The shaggy red carpet (at her request, she was 10 at the time) clashed with the light purple walls but she loved the two colors and despite the difference, Jerome had agreed. Her light brown dresser sat next to her bed and atop that was a picture of the G-Alloids, taken soon after they met. Despite living in a mansion, Trio's room was average for an only child.  
  
Trio blinked away tears. "I made it.I really made it."  
  
Shiro kissed Trio's cheek. "It's okay.calm down. You've been asleep for three days since you came back."  
  
"I heard voices calling to me but I was tired and calm and SAFE I didn't want to leave my haven."  
  
"But don't you it's about time you come back to the world of the living?"  
  
A giggled escaped the girl. "Don't hide in the shadows, Jerome, I know you're there."  
  
A relieved sigh came from the shadowed doorway. "You've always been able to sense someone else in your room. Even since you were a baby."  
  
Trio let out a strangled cry, "DAAAAAAAD! Stop with the trips down memory lane!"  
  
Jerome laughed, the first time Shiro had ever seen this stern man laugh.  
  
"All right, all right I'll stop." Jerome's face toughened up. "You're going to have to tell us what happened then. I know it might be hard or even traumatic but we need to know what he did to have such severe injuries." he trailed off, seeing the look on his daughter's face.  
  
"Do I have to tell everyone?" Trio asked quietly.  
  
"He didn't." Shiro's face had an appalled look.  
  
"No, he didn't touch me.but.for a G-Alloid he did something much worse." (Since this is confusing let me elaborate: being controlled by another who wishes to and can hurt you. For a G-Alloid this is pure torture)  
  
Jerome pulled a handheld recorder out of his pocket. "Here, this'll make it easier for you won't it?"  
  
Trio nodded and retold the events of her capture (and since it's really boring to tell it all again, the author has taken the liberty to SKIP it and get to the part you don't know about ^-^).  
  
"I made it to the border of the Azure Kingdom by nightfall and landed in a small forest. I removed the handcuffs and table and slept well into the afternoon.  
  
"As much as it hurt I flew on, knowing if I didn't keep going I'd never make it."  
  
"Then yesterday afternoon you made it here, but how did you know where you were going?" Jerome asked.  
  
"Deathscythe told you huh?"  
  
"He clued me in a little, but I was so mentally weakened I couldn't hear much of anything."  
  
"I see," Jerome turned off the recorder.  
  
"What.has the team decided to do about this?" Trio asked quietly.  
  
"Nothing yet," Shiro replied just as quiet. "They were arguing for days on whether or not to go into the Azure Kingdom and get you out."  
  
"Is Melody here?"  
  
"Yea, she's with the others."  
  
"Have they been going to school?"  
  
"Trio," Shiro's face was confused, "where'd that question come from?"  
  
"She's always worried about falling behind because of absences," Jerome informed the boy.  
  
"No," Shiro replied in answer to Trio's question.  
  
"I see," Trio closed her eyes and relaxed on her pillow. "Tell Daemon I'm awake and that he needs to start talking with the other G-Alloids about Kai, he has GOT to be stopped."  
  
"I'll do it," Shiro volunteered. "But is that really something you should be worrying about right NOW?" When Trio refused to answer, the boy got up and left the room, Jerome still sitting on the edge of the bed.  
  
"How much longer, Jerome?"  
  
"Wha?"  
  
"The G-Genomes, how much longer until it's completely integrated into his system?  
  
"I'd say a few days, maybe a week at the maximum.wait.how did YOU know about that?"  
  
"."  
  
"One of the G-Alloids is going to have to eliminate Kai, Trio, more than likely it'll have to be Shiro."  
  
"I know."  
  
"How did you find out about Shiro's condition?"  
  
"A machine is useful for locating other machines," Trio replied vaguely.  
  
"Are you going to tell him?"  
  
"I don't know.it's hard.it's like telling a child they're adopted.there's never a right time."  
  
"But it has to be done eventually."  
  
"And what would that be?" Melody asked as she peeked her head in the door.  
  
"Nothing you should be concerned with." Jerome replied irritably.  
  
Melody steadied her attention at Jerome for a moment then turned to the G- Alloid in the bed, "Trio, Daemon asked me to tell you that the 'X' made a TV broadcast about you guys."  
  
Trio shot up and knocked a surprise Jerome on the floor. "WHAT?!"  
  
"He's let the world know you exist."  
  
Trio sank back on the bed. "Do they know our alias names?"  
  
"I don't know, I'm sorry, Trio."  
  
The gong that was the doorbell rang loud and clear. Jerome sat up as it rang three more times in succession. 


End file.
